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Launch of mobile stripping system

Mac’Ants redefines large structure stripping with major environmental benefits a direct result

A highly versatile and effective means of removing tenacious coatings such as paint from large structures – from bridges to ships – is available from the Mac’Ants Group.  The facility which, because it is mobile allows for optimum location, not only achieves excellent stripping results but also reduces material destined for landfill disposal by up to a remarkable 90%.

The development draws on Mac’Ants’ specialist equipment experience and, significantly, gains from the use of plastic media.  Based around a series of modular units that are delivered to site on a flat bed trailer, the complete process facility can be simply off-loaded using a telescopic handler allowing it to be readily located alongside the work area or left pre- assembled on the trailer.

The Auriga System handles the air from a contained or ‘shrouded’ area that encapsulates the working surface, effectively turning it into a mobile blast room.  This, in turn, links directly to the extraction, collection and recycling units – also modular elements of the system – all of which have been fabricated to provide a stable system with durable performance.

“The design of the system allows for a dramatic reduction in waste disposal requirements,” comments Mac’Ants Director Kent Martin. “Where a conventional process would produce, for example, some 30 tonnes of waste – typically with lead and zinc content – disposal of only three to five tonnes now needs to be addressed. This results directly from low pressure operating requirements – perhaps 40 psi compared to a conventional 110 psi, which in turn leads to lower noise and dust levels – and the design of the filtration system. Both of these factors allow the plastic media to remain useable for much longer,” he explains.

A typical system would feature a 10,000 cubic foot per minute dust collector – large enough to cope with airborne dust generated by four media stripping nozzles. Operators work on the face as normal while pressure regulation for optimum application and system functions are by a PLC controller. The working environment within the enclosed area is maintained via an extraction air system with operating pressures such that work and media recovery can be successfully conducted up to 100 metres away from the equipment location.

“Media is recovered using a high capacity vacuum generator and in turn to a rescreening and airwash process before returning to the pressure vessels for re-use in the blasting and stripping process,” continues Kent Martin. “This recovery takes place either during or at the end of each blasting shift, and clearly means that consumable material costs are kept to a minimum. Ultimately, the dust and spent media are collected into a central point for safe disposal – importantly with no manual intervention necessary,” he adds.

Kent Martin points out that this benefit for the user is enhanced by the fact that no operatives are subjected to potentially hazardous dust that is discharged automatically into a sealed drum for onward disposal or recycling.

Because the design is modular, system element capacities and sizes can be varied to suit particular working requirements. In most cases, however, units are retained within a relatively low transport height making the system highly suitable where access restrictions apply – typically in bridge refurbishment locations.

“Because we are effectively taking the full blasting operation to the point of use and the system is designed as a self-contained unit, we believe the concept will offer an added benefit where possession times are limited,” adds Kent Martin. “Moreover, because it is designed to operate with either plastic or plastic-hybrid media, their acknowledged benefits in terms of performance and environmental gains can also be enjoyed.

“We believe the benefits of the system will be recognised by end users and contractors alike in highway maintenance, bridge refurbishment, shipyards – indeed any area where large structures need to be stripped and cleaned. It has effectively redefined the optimum means of achieving excellent results for the industry, and makes the use of plastic media for onsite work viable and efficient” concludes Kent Martin.