Blasting and washing towards a better environment

Passing on a better world for coming generations is one of the drivers for VertiDrive. To structure our efforts in doing our share, we have adopted five of the SDG (Sustainability Development Goals) goals established by the United Nations. By communicating these five goals as fundamentals for Vertidrive we show commitment to executing them. At VertiDrive, we come across more requests from clients for more environmentally friendly cleaning and blasting solutions as policies by governments seem to be stimulating also more traditional industries. Such as blasting and washing activities in the surface preparation industry. We are glad that our proven technology contributes to major topics such as health and safety, (cost) effectiveness, quality, and productivity.

Read along to learn how we as a company and our solutions contribute to the SDGs

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

VertiDrive wants to be an employer where decent work can be done. Decent work concerns all levels of the organization. Decent work means work that gives meaning, gives the possibility to build your life, grow as a professional and as a person. Economic growth entails the stability of the company and the economy at large. Stability by which the employer can continue its societal role and be a good employer by offering decent work. Because VertiDrive offers solutions for the future, the economic growth for shipping companies, tank storage terminals, and other large asset owners can be sustained.

 SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

VertiDrive caters to a very traditional market. Surface treatment is predominantly executed manually and transitioning to an optimized, and operational setup proves to be an “out of the box” thing.  Though, VertiDrive offers innovative solutions that are proven technology and futureproof. By this, we offer contractors and asset owners within the industrial industry a better way of working. VertiDrive also commits to its R&D efforts and invests in innovations that are improvements to current products.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

In surface treatment, there are several health risks that can occur during the operation. When working with equipment that can create a pressure of 40.000 psi there is always the risk of physical contact. When you can see what this pressure can do to steel, we do not need to emphasize on the damage this can do to a human body. The use of robotic equipment increases the distance of the person to the nozzle which mitigates the risk of dangerous, and direct contact.

The same goes for the impact of noise. The equipment used to create pressure on the water can be around 85 DB. This can create serious damage to hearing because of the fact this is a continuous impact. The use of proper hearing protection can minimize the impact. The use of robotics will not eliminate the use of hearing protection but will minimize the number of people in this operation and can create a situation where a larger distance to the noise can be achieved.

When doing surface treatment on ships or tanks, the goal is to blast off corrosion or other unwanted material with high-pressure water or abrasives from the treated objects. This means that the material which comes off can have an impact on the health of the workers. This can impact on eyes, skin, and possibly inhale toxic residue coming in the form of dust. This is again minimized when the distance to the nozzle and surface of the object can be increased.

Often the objects treated are the taller type of objects, which means that the people in this operation need to work at dangerous heights. The blasting or cleaning is then done by staff working from scaffolding or cherry pickers. This is unnecessary when you have a robotic crawler available as this can be operated from a safe distance on the ground and can drive up reaching the higher spots.

SDG 13 & 14: Climate Action & Life Below Water

Another impact of water jetting or abrasive blasting, next to the impact on personal health, is the environmental impact of this operation. Waterjetting machines use large volumes of water and can generate a large amount of wastewater, which is contaminated with for example coating residue or other types of contamination. The use of robotics optimizes the use of water and operates more efficiently, resulting in lower water consumption. Next to that, VertiDrive offers a closed-loop (hydro)blasting robot with a vacuum system, which makes sure wastewater is separated and can be collected in an IBC for example. When it comes to abrasive blasting, the blasting media used can have an impact on the environment, as dust is created that will spread around, this is why water blasting with a piece of robotic blasting equipment should be preferred over (manual) abrasives blasting when creating a profile on the surface is not necessary.

For example, data shared by MFAME show that just 10 percent of coverage with barnacles on ship hulls, results in 36% more fuel consumption. By using effective, faster, and safer methods to keep ship hulls free of barnacles, it is already a great step forward for less pollution of seawaters.

We invite you to join the revolution in making blasting and water jetting in dry docks, shipyards, tank storage fields safe and more efficient! Contact us to see how your operations can be optimized.