From blast off to landing

Contracting companies are obliged to consider corrosion prevention technologies not only from an economical point of view, but increasingly from an ecological point of view. When it comes to surface preparation, traditional grit blasting is the norm for reaching a cleanliness of Sa 2.5 (according to the ISO 8501 standard), but it comes with many challenges including noise, vibration, dust, logistics, safety precautions, clean-up and/or disposal of used media. Used grit usually goes to landfill, and often this has to be treated as hazardous waste because the removed coating contains toxic materials.

Projects requiring ecological solutions call for new innovations with partners having an out-of-the-box way of thinking. Suppliers and manufacturers that can bring such innovations through new technologies that go beyond simple cost or time savings can make a real difference to a contractor’s ability to complete a project. Indeed, the market is changing rapidly from where a contractor simply executes a job. Today, the contractor is an engineering partner and is expected to contribute to the design of safer, healthier, quicker, and environmentally friendly solutions.

Contractors who understand the technology of bristle blasting are well placed to bring such solutions to their projects. Employing bristle blasting technology can not only save time and money during surface preparation, it can contribute to a safer and cleaner environment by avoiding many of the downsides of traditional grit blasting. There is less equipment, less noise, no real waste to clean up and transport away, and no hazardous permitting required.

Moreover, bristles can be resharpened for longer belt life span and recycled for disposal.

Field joint coating surface preparation

MONTI Bristle Blaster^® technology was recently used for field joint coating surface preparation on the Slovakia to Poland Interconnector pipeline. This project concerns an important cross-border pipeline which is part of the North South Gas Interconnections in Central Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (NSI East Gas) and was funded in part by the EU under its Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The pipeline will contribute to the enhancement of regional energy security and the development of a competitive gas market in the entire region.

Technology on the project

Before construction started, the local MONTI partner carried out several demonstration sessions to educate contractors on the advantages of the Bristle Blaster technology. With the technology achieving cleanliness levels similar to Sa 2.5 abrasive blasting with a roughness profile up to 120 µm, combined with a straightforward operational set-up, the technology was considered to be a good alternative to traditional grit blasting. This was particularly true in order to overcome the challenges of difficult access areas, such as steep hills and swamps, where it is difficult to transport the heavy grit blasting equipment.

The small footprint and simple operational set-up was also a welcome advantage and helped to achieve a quick start to the project, with all equipment needed to carry out the field joint coating application prepared and mobilised in record time. There was no need for extra tractors or bullies, no protective tents, no extra blast equipment and hoses, etc. to carry along the pipeline sections that were spread over a large area of construction – ultimately saving the contracting companies time and money. While using the bristle blaster surface preparation technology can take more time than conventional grit blasting for preparing large areas, its use saved a lot of time in scaling up operations and maintaining a steady work rate over a long and inhospitable construction area. The availability of bristle blaster units and spare parts with the local MONTI partner also made an important difference in being able to maintain a rapid pace for the project.

MONTI’s successful involvement in the larger projects has not come overnight. The company has been actively promoting its Bristle Blaster technology to the oil and gas industry since 1987; however, it has really been over the last year that the company has seen a notable increase in the use of its technology in the field. This increased use relates not only to MONTI’s technology, but also to the company’s R&D focus on engineering new solutions to expand its technology. This new engineering approach is now being adopted by MONTI’s partners and introduced to clients everywhere that are seeking cleaner, greener, and less expensive alternatives to abrasive blasting.

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Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/special-reports/07042020/from-blast-off-to-landing/