Marine Riding Crews and Offshore Structures
UHP water jetting is an excellent way to achieve exceptional surface preparation for re-coating without the cost of bringing the ship into a shipyard. UHP Projects, Inc. provides a turnkey service, which includes the surface preparation and re-coating. Water requirements are low (approximate 2.1 gpm per surface preparation tool) and can easily be supplied by the ship. Waste generation is minimal and can be stored in ballast tanks, temporary storage, or handled by the ships crew.
The surface preparation achieved is far superior to conventional power tool cleaning. This provides a better surface for re-coating and eliminates the endless cycle of rusting and repair by ship’s crew.
In port or during heavy weather, the surface preparation can continue in ballast tanks, pipe alleys, internal spaces, etc. If water jetting is not allowed in port, clean up and re-coating work can still continue.
UHP Projects, Inc. has specially designed equipment for work on vessel at sea or offshore platforms. We have successfully performed work in many areas of the world including the South Pacific, Middle East, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and the east and west coasts of the United States.
Ultra High Pressure (UHP) waterjetting surface preparation saves offshore maintenance painting programs time and money.
It’s easy to understand why more oil production and drilling rig companies are switching to paint contractors who utilize UHP waterjetting for surface preparation. These owners are faced with smaller budgets, stringent enforcement of Best Management Practices, increased productivity demands, and stringent safety awareness. UHP waterjetting technology has proven to be an advantage in all of these areas over traditional surface preparation methods.
Over the past several years the offshore painting industry has undergone new government policy initiatives incorporating best management practices (BMP) for offshore structures. These changes have been good for the environment but have come at a significant cost increase when performing surface preparation by traditional methods such as abrasive blasting or mechanical cleaning. UHP waterjetting reduces the cost of BMP requirements by reducing the need for full containment and eliminating the shipment and disposal of abrasive. UHP waterjetting also eliminates most of the interferences to operations found with abrasive blasting.
The solution:
UHP waterjetting is the use of waterjets at pressures up to 50,000 PSI and low flow rates of approximately 2.1 GPM per hand-held surface preparation tool. This energy is used to remove coatings, hard deposits and rust scale, which are tightly adhered to a base metal. The high velocity waterjets strike the surface to be cleaned in much the same manner as small solid particles, shearing away unwanted materials from the surface.
UHP waterjetting saves time since no airborne dust or contaminants are generated as with traditional abrasive blasting methods. The need for containment to protect the surrounding environment, personnel, equipment and other crafts is greatly reduced.
Reverse Osmosis units allow salt water to be utilized for the surface preparation process, eliminating the cost of abrasive transportation, storage and delays due to foul weather. Advanced filtration methods collect the effluent jetting water, removing paint and contaminants and eliminating the need to bring the liquid back to shore. This is a clear advantage over traditional abrasive blasting that requires abrasives to be shipped to the site and shipped back as spent abrasive for disposal.
UHP Projects, Inc. has been one of the pioneers of waterjetting surface preparation to the oil exploration and production industry for 17 yrs. We have found many advantages for this technology in these industries:
- Drastically reduce environmental hazards, containment requirements and reduced disposal costs, while providing better protection of the assets.
- Minimal interference to production and drilling operations or other crafts working on offshore facilities.
- Eliminates potential damage to platform/rig equipment due to abrasive contamination
- Equipment can be located remotely so that Surface preparation can be accomplished with no hot work requirements.
- Excellent method for removing surface contamination such as chlorides prior to recoating-providing longer coating life and eliminating premature failures.
- Equipment designed specifically for offshore applications require a smaller footprint and take up less rig space.
- The most productive, economical way to achieve the surface you need for good coating adhesion in a harsh environment.
UHP technology offers a much cleaner surface, in less time, than abrasive and mechanical cleaning methods. This allows for a better surface preparation and better coating application, while adhering to tight schedule. Combining this UHP waterjetting surface preparation with traditional painting techniques along with commonly used coatings, and the result is an outstanding alternative for offshore maintenance painting projects.
Mack Miller with Carboline states “We have used most of our offshore products over UHP prepared surfaces with great success. From Helo decks to splash zones our materials have performed great over these ultra clean surfaces. We are actually seeing increased coating life since most of the contaminants are removed during the surface preparation.”
UHP Projects has combined their expertise in UHP waterjetting and coating application with their knowledge of project management to improve the way that offshore maintenance painting is done. They have developed equipment specifically for the offshore industry and currently own 21 UHP pumps so there is no need to send rental units out. They have personnel that are well versed in UHP equipment repair so that downtime is minimized. This knowledge and experience increases the safety factor for painting projects on offshore structures.
Brian Brooker with UHP Projects says “That is how the company chose its logo 17 years ago. UHP2 shows that the company combines their knowledge of Pressure and Projects to save our customers money. We have brought this expertise to the offshore industry and it has proven extremely successful
It is recognized now more than ever, that all of the maintenance costs on an offshore production platform or drilling rig are interrelated. While it is always important to keep the cost of a painting project down, it is also important to minimize the amount of support and disruption that the painting process causes on the platform.
This needs to be accomplished without jeopardizing the quality of the recoating work and actually increasing the coating life to maximize the ROI of the expenditure. This is especially important in the offshore sector where deep water facilities can increase the cost of maintenance painting. UHP waterjetting surface preparation has been proven to meet those requirements and is excellent choice for accomplishing these goals.
Offshore General Description
Read The Article On Off Shore Projects
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