This project consisted of the refurbishment of the largest fuel storage tank in New Zealand situated at Marsden Point in Northland. In 2019 DIALOG Fitzroy were selected to complete a full internal and external blast and paint, including the roof of this 80m diameter tank which resulted in us coating over 10,000m² of surface area. This was a mammoth project and it was incumbent on us to reduce the cost that previous refurbishments had seen, by applying technology to increase productivity & get production back on line sooner; and by limiting the indirect costs i.e. scaffolding & waste recovery.
DIALOG Fitzroy Solution
We always look to apply innovative thinking to increase efficiencies and for this project we chose to employ our robotic blasting technology. This equipment realises significant cost savings particularly in production rates rates; 2 workers 330m² per day versus 4 workers 100m² per day using the traditional method. The application of our robotic equipment substantially reduces garnet consumption and offers more consistent blast quality, but just as importantly produces a significant reduction in exposure and fatigue for our personnel.
Our robotic equipment consists of two Vertidrive M4/M3 Robotic UHP magnetic crawlers, with waste recovered via two specialised vacuum recovery systems, leaving a ready to paint surface.
