Industrial.
Surface Preparation – Nationwide
Industrial Blast Cleaning
With the regular downturns of the building sector, we have been called upon more to provide a cleaning and abrasive blasting service to industry.
We specialise in using a low pressure sand jetting system, obviously sometimes traditional sandblasting or bead blasting is more appropriate for metal cleaning. Equally pressure washing may sometimes suffice. We also offer priming of cleaned metals using Zinga or other primers (and currently we are very positive towards the moisture curing urethane products of Trident coatings)
The damp nature of our standard blast captures dirt and abrasive, preventing the health and safety risks associated with dry blasting. It also acts as a coolant, and therefore can clean thin metals, such as motor vehicle shells, without heating the surface causing distortion.
A further advantage of the system we use is that it also uses far less abrasive than traditional sand blasting, making expensive abrasives, such as garnet, cost effective, and more significantly reducing waste. Abrasive does not need to be recycled, preventing cross contamination between jobs, and apart from in specialist cases, is not a major part of the running costs.
Dry Ice Blasting
There are times when alternative methods are called for, one of which is Dry Ice blasting. Here a surface to be cleaned is blasted with solid CO2 particles, and the surface is cleaned through thermal shock, the massive volume change as dry ice particles turn into gas, and some abrasion of the surface contaminant, making the process ‘grit or sand free’.
The advantage of this system is that the ‘abrasive’ evaporates on impact, so the only ‘debris’ is the material being removed. It is nearly ‘dustless’ – about as dustless as it is possible to get for an open blast system – however it will still blow cobwebs, birds nests, paint debris etc. fairly liberally!
It is used widely in the printing industry to clean print rollers, and for mould and weld cleaning.
Galvanising
Zinga is a one-component cold applied galvanic zinc coating. Its unique formula provides environmentally safe cathodic protection to steel comparable with hot dip galvanising, with the added advantage that it can be applied, on site, like a paint. This sub frame was blasted and primed with Zinga in our blasting booth in East Yorkshire for a customer from Lincoln.
Key Benefits
- Zinga® means on site galvanising is possible. This therefore removes the dismantling and transport costs associated with hot dip galvanising.
- Due to organic binder, Zinga can exceed lifespan of hot dip Zinc.
- Zinga does not present any potential hydrogen inducement to load bearing welds therefore there is no danger of cracking. Steel coated with up to 60 um of Zinga does not require the grinding of edges before being welded to x-ray quality.
- Zinga can be “recharged” at any point in the future, on site, and without re-blasting.
- Worn or Rusty Galvanising can be also be repaired and re-charged
- It can be used as a primer in a duplex system and can easily be painted over with a variety of top coats including powder coatings
- Certified by the UK Ministry of Defence and US Military
Priming and Painting
Primers and Topcoats can be applied to protect the steel from corrosion. Zinga is a one-component cold applied galvanic zinc coating. Its unique formula provides environmentally safe cathodic protection to steel comparable with hot dip galvanising, with the added advantage that it can be applied, on site, like a paint. We now do favour moisture curing urethane products from Trident coatings for example, and topcoats from Firwood. The Moisture Curing Urethanes work down to -15 degrees C and at high humidities. This allows on site painting to take place, outside in Winter!
A complex web of metal in an ex Aircraft Hangar in Warwickshire- cleaned and primed with MCU Aluprime Spring 2009.