What is Industrial Cleaning?

Industrial cleaning is the process of cleaning hazardous areas in industrial facilities like warehouses, factories, power plants and various other types of facilities. These processes typically occur when a material or substance needs to be removed from a certain area, requiring a significant amount of knowledge and training in this field.

Industrial cleaning includes a wide range of activities from dust control, containment and cleanup of hazardous materials, spills or solid waste. In most cases, industrial cleaning is carried out as a part of the regular maintenance program for these facilities.

Types of Industrial Cleaning

Specialized equipment and chemicals are needed for a facility to be cleansed. Depending on the job, industrial cleaning can takes place in various ways such as through mopping, vacuuming and other methods.

When it comes to industrialized cleaning, there are several types of jobs that require the need to contain or cleanse waste, especially in the oil and gas industry.

Hydroblast, Vacuum & Big Pump

Hydroblasting is the most efficient way to clean the interior and exterior of tanks, pipes, storage vessels, catch basins, boilers, ductwork, drainage systems and other surfaces without using harsh chemicals or abrasives.

Water blasting cleaning technology can be used to remove stubborn materials by force and flow, as well as for cutting and surface preparation.

Hydroblasting

Force and flow refer to the pressure and the amount of water that is needed to remove fouling deposits that impair process equipment and production efficiency. The material that needs to be removed will dictate which tool should be used when hydroblasting.

Automated Hydroblasting

Automated water blasting increases efficiency by reducing the number of workers needed to complete a job and cutting overall project time down by more than half. 3D tools and positioners keep operators clear of hazards and clean vessels even more effectively than shotgun cleaning.

Big Pump

High-volume hydroblasting pumps are designed to minimize downtime. In order to safely and efficiently reduce costs and yield the most effective results possible, we use an automated on-line deslagging process.

Ultra-High Pressure Hydroblasting & Cutting

Ultra high pressure water blasting reduces downtime and improves safety performance. The high-speed, pulsating water from ultra-high pressure hydroblasting produce incredible benefits for industrial cleaning, surface preparation, and cutting applications. The energy generated by the USP water jet exceeds the bonding energy of even the most adherent scales, coatings, or process contamination.

Boiler Tube Cleaning

Boilers are used to heat water and other fluids to very high temperatures to produce steam for various purposes – power generation, sanitation, central heating, etc. Being that boilers run for hours on end, over time particles deposit inside the pipe. The automated, boiler tube chemical cleaning process is the ideal way to mechanically get rid of slag, ash, and other tube deposits.

Vacuum Excavation

Pneumatic- & Hydro-Vacuum Excavation technology uses pressurized compressed air (pneumatic) and/or water (hydro) agitation to loosen and remove soils. Debris and materials are collected using vacuum equipment, maintaining a nearly dust-free operation.

Wet & Dry Vacuuming

A Hydrovac (liquid vaccuum truck) can simultaneously hydroblast sewer lines and vacuum the resulting debris. This dustless, cleaning process removes thick, sludgy materials not removable by conventional methods.

Chemical Cleaning & Finfoam

Chemical cleaning is mandatory for a wide variety of products and equipment, using chemicals to clean contaminants off of unwanted surfaces. The nature and type of chemicals used differ depending on the product that is to be cleaned. 

Industrial Chemical Cleaning

In an industrial chemical cleaning scenario, mixtures of various chemicals remove unwanted deposits that adversely affect the performance of equipment and the production process. Engineers develop comprehensive plans for each job that defines chemical mixtures, equipment, staffing, ongoing monitoring, and testing.

FINFOAM

FINFOAM®’s low pressure, high volume cleaning process removes dirt and debris safely and thoroughly from dirty fin fan coils. Clean coils of fin fans result in cooling equipment performing at an optimal level with multiple financial benefits. FINFOAM extends equipment life and production can be increased where cooling has been detrimental to output.

Lifecycle Service Solutions

Industrial cleaning services that are provided for the entire plant lifecycle: construction phase cleaning, critical path pre-commissioning cleaning, reliable on-site services, productive outages and turnarounds, and decommissioning.

Construction Cleaning Support

Before the construction of a manufacturing facility, power generation plant, or other industrial facility can take place, there are certain preparations that must be involved. Construction cleaning support preparations can include locating underground utilities, piping systems, distribution or telecommunication devices, and other sensitive components that require "safe dig" and "daylighting" services.

Using both hydro- and pneumatic- vacuum excavation methods, it allows excavation, even remotely, in a range of contexts without jeopardizing the safety of the surrounding area.

Pre-Commissioning Cleaning

Over time, plant equipment components typically contain foreign deposits such as milling oil, rust, construction debris, weld splatter, dirt or even sub-surface contamination like chlorides or fluorides. These foreign deposits can directly affect metallurgy and alloys during operations or when under stress conditions. 

Minute microscopic-sized particles can shut down lubrication and hydraulic systems or cause catastrophic erosion damage to down-stream equipment such as turbine blades, rotors and solids separation control systems without crucial, pre-operational cleaning to exacting standards.

Daily Maintenance Support

On-site crews with advanced equipment and resources benefit partnerships with teams to increase communication, safety, productivity, and cost-savings. Advanced equipment allows for automated, hands-free hydroblasting that maximizes onsite safety while minimizing costs.

Event Maintenance, Outages + TARs

Project and outage management teams plan, organize, motivate and control resources, procedures and protocols to achieve all project goals. The primary challenge of a project management team is to meet or exceed clients’ objectives while honoring the preconceived constraints of scope, time, quality and budget. They combine extensive pre-planning, on-site execution, daily reporting and post-project review.

De-commissioning

An orderly shutdown of the building's systems and preparing the building for long term dormancy at the end of a plant's lifecycle is a critical process.

Providing reliable resources, advanced capabilities and the utmost safety is required for de-commissioning for demolition, or re-commissioning for reuse.

Speciality Solutions

Needs for specialty services go beyond cleaning. It is crucial to use methods and technologies that ensure maximum safety and efficiency for challenging projects.

Combustible Dust Remediation

Fugitive dust cleaning helps remove explosive airborne dust particles from your facility, in turn reducing the possibility of explosion. Using a DEFA foaming process safely removes combustible, explosive, and fugitive dust.

The Dust Encapsulating Foaming Agent (DEFA) propels a relatively low pressure, copious stream of nearly-dry foam onto hard to reach interior walls and ceilings of industrial facilities including coal-fired power plants. After it’s applied, the DEFA foam travels down from the framework while attracting dust like a magnet. The foam carries the dust deposits directly to the floor and is swept away after the foam dissipates.

Dry Ice Blasting

Although cleaning should be safe and effective, most regular cleaning processes leave potentially harmful secondary waste behind. Cryogenic cleaning, or what’s also known as “Dry Ice Blast Cleaning”, is utilizes a combination of external forces to lift surface contamination without secondary waste.

Dry ice blasting is a completely dry process. The dry ice pellets consist of CO2 and vaporize immediately on contact with the surface. The coating left behind can usually be swept or vacuumed from the floor after the dry ice cleaning process is complete.

Because dry ice blasting is completely non-toxic and no hazardous chemicals are used, the costs associated with the disposal of blasting materials and solvents are substantially decreased.

In-situ SCR Catalyst Cleaning

In the event that its time for your SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) catalyst system to be cleaned and repacked, it can be benefited by in-situ catalyst cleaning versus other traditional methods. The four primary benefits of an in-situ SCR catalyst cleaning include improved NOx conversion, decreased pressure drop, decreased ammonia slip and increased plant efficiency.

This method safely cleans catalysts of potentially harmful contaminants by removing fly ash that cannot be reached by traditional methods and prolongs catalyst life.

Sponge Blasting

Sponge blasting is a beneficial alternative to traditional methods such as hydroblasting, sand blasting and ice blasting.

Specialty techniques that utilize safe, synthetic sponge media imbedded with micro-abrasive particles can be utilized for pre-commissioning, operational cleaning, and surface preparation.

This exceptionally low-dust and low rebound (ricochet) technology is a safe, dry relatively low pressure (~70-100 PSI) process that improves coverage efficiency, productivity and reduces maintenance costs while protecting the workplace and the environment. The sponge material can be recycled for effective re-use typically 6 to 10 times, decreasing cost and dramatically reducing disposal charges for a “greener” footprint vs traditional methods like sand blasting.

Industrial Drone Inspections

Offering automated, safe and efficient aerial drone inspections throughout facilities ensures you keep employees safe and time minimized. With drone technology, you have remote access to dangerous or complex areas of your plant without human exposure or scaffolding, increases safety and minimizes downtime while providing high resolution drone images and video.

Tank Cleaning & Vapor Control

Tank cleanings are needed for capacity loss, change of product, API inspections, maintenance, repairs and more. By using a UHP robot and specialty chemical solutions results in a safer, more cost-effective result.

Vapor control allows industries to recover vent gas and other air pollutants safely, ensuring compliance with emission regulations.

EPIC® HRSG Off-line Cleaning

When you want to ensure your HRSG unit is running efficiently, it occasionally needs to be off-line cleaned, professionally and thoroughly. The patented EPIC (Extraction Pressure Impulse Cleaner) technique is effective and safe, incorporating targeted pressure wave impulse technology applied at Mach- 5 speed. When the EPIC process is utilized for your HRSG cleaning needs, CT back pressure is reduced, less fuel costs, lower exit stack temperatures and is cost effective.

Covid-19 Disinfecting Services

Commercial and industrial disinfecting services offer advanced cleaning, sanitizing and disinfection services that follow CDC guidelines to help your organization keep employees and customers as safe and protected as possible. 

Commercial disinfecting allows you to create a routine cleaning schedule to thoroughly disinfect/ sanitize your facility that follows CDC and OSHA guidelines.

Using high-powered equipment and EPA-registered products qualified to disinfect coronavirus to industrial facilities, critical operations and known-exposure/ emergency response situations.

Industries who need Industrial Cleaning

Industrial cleaning programs and services benefit many industries to increase production and safety, reduce costly operational shutdowns and address unscheduled maintenance.

Effective hydroblasting, vacuuming, chemical cleaning and other industrial cleaning services with highly productive capabilities are tailored for the challenges encountered in industries like these:

• Pulp and Paper
• Metals, Alloys and Mining
• Power Generation
• Oil and Gas