Tube Tech International solved a potential environmental problem by using its novel FastIce™ blaster technique to clean a wiped film evaporator at a chemical plant.
Conventional high-pressure water jetting would have raised the risk of residue from the manufacture of phosphorous-based flame retardant materials washing into the site’s storm drains – and ultimately into the nearby river.
Never content with settling for the obvious solution, Tube Tech recommended the use of their upgraded FastIce™ blasting technology – almost 5 to 10 times faster than normal dry ice cleaning – that is part of its extensive armoury of specialist equipment.
Although well-proven for cleaning in the printing industry, this is believed to be the first time that FastIce™ blasting has been applied in a chemical plant.
Tube Tech Managing Director Mike Watson explained : “We fired a combination of pellets of frozen carbon dioxide and atomised food grade abrasive over the surface of the evaporator using a percussive compressed air ejector.”
With the removal of water from the cleaning process a previous effluent problem was eliminated, downtime improved and all waste could be simply swept into the relevant waste containers.
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