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Painting a surface might seem like a straightforward task, but the key to a long-lasting and visually appealing finish lies in surface preparation. Whether you're dealing with metal or concrete, investing time and effort in preparing the surface before applying paint is essential.

Contractors and facility managers alike agree that worker safety is the top priority when working on abrasive blasting job sites.From the depths of underground utility vaults to the interior of storage tanks, examples of confined spaces abound. Found in a wide range of industries and workplaces, each pose a unique risk to those who must enter them.

Facility maintenance professionals play a critical role in preventing corrosion within industrial settings, employing a range of proactive strategies to safeguard infrastructure and equipment. Upstream and downstream oil and gas, industrial manufacturing, wastewater treatment plants, among many other production facilities must all have a plan in place to delay the impact of corrosion's harmful effects.

Choosing the best Sponge Media Feed Unit™ can seem like an intimidating task. Sizes, features, and portability vary between models, but they all do the same overall task of mixing blast media with compressed air for abrasive blasting. Some units like the EX product line are for use in potentially combustable, flammable atmospheres, while other units like the Rasp Xtreme and the 100-HP are optimized for portability. 

Many advanced Certified Rebuild Centers (CRCs) and Heavy Equipment Refurbishment facilities are turning away from regular abrasive blasting and/or high pressure washing during their re-manufacturing process. Increasingly, these centers are focusing on cleaning the equipment using Sponge-Jet blasting prior to disassembly.

Now more than ever, Contractors are looking for ways to save money, increase worker safety, and reduce waste. For abrasive blasting projects like cleaning tanks, prepping pipe internals, or blasting walls and floors, robotic abrasive blasting is often a better choice than manual blasting.

When paint starts to peel and bubble, it’s extremely important for the integrity of the asset to remove the old coating and apply a new one. As protective coatings fail, substrate corrosion can accelerate, leading to long term asset damage. If failed coatings and corrosion are not addressed, the damage may not be repairable and the asset may need to be replaced, ultimately costing the owner substantially more money.

Imagine for a moment that ACME Coatings Contractor has recently completed an important water tank exterior coatings project. The job, which involved removing lead-based paint from the 40 meter (135-ft) tall, 3.7-million liter,legged tank, went well from start to finish. The owners are happy, final payment has been rendered, and the project manager is filing the last bit of paperwork when the owner’s representative calls and asks, “Out of curiosity, how can we be sure that ACME didn’t leave lead dust under or around the tank?”

Shipbuilding and marine repair is frequently heavy, hard industrial work. Manufacturing is loud and can get dirty. In a marine environment like a ship yard (which can include one or more dry docks) this process must occur within close proximity to water, posing unique challenges regarding containment and suppression of dust during the building and repair process.

The Sponge-Jet Global Training and Technology center has published its 2018 Third-Party class schedule which features a broad range of accredited classes from leading industrial trade associations like the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE International), The Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) and committee meetings which include the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).