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Regular maintenance is critical for keeping industrial plants and facilities operational and productive. Over time, equipment, ceilings, and other surfaces can see soot and grease build up and coatings fail, potentially compromising operations, reducing efficiency, and has the potential to impact worker safety. In order to tackle these challenges, many facility owners are adding Sponge Blasting to properly clean and prep surfaces with minimal operational disruptions or unnecessary shutdowns.

Along the Balearic Sea on the coast of mainland Spain sits Marina Barcelona, a well-known Marina within the yachting community. Within this Marina sat a €30 Million (40 Million USD) Superyacht in need of surface preparation on its hull. Yacht hulls define its speed, strength, and stability, so when hull coatings fail, the overall integrity of the ship becomes compromised, directly impacting the yacht’s performance and fuel efficiency. 

Whether painting delicate surfaces like tin ceilings, or industrial surfaces such as machinery or roof decking, the quality and longevity of the paint job relies on the surface preparation before coating. On large square footage painting projects, surface prep is often the least considered step, but in reality, it’s the most crucial and plays a key role in the overall success of the paint job. Investing time and effort in this stage is essential to achieve lasting, high-quality results.

At a Kimberly-Clark Australia facility, there was significant corrosion on the grating of their coliseum tower floors. Years of exposure to damp, sticky conditions had caused a build-up of sap on the steel surfaces, damaging the coatings and causing extensive corrosion. This was impacting work environments, and they knew they needed to remove the contaminants and blast all of the corroded steel for surface prep prior to recoating.

Concrete has been used in construction for thousands of years, with its earliest known uses for floors, houses, and cisterns in Syria as early as 6500 BC. However, over the last few centuries, the materials used to make concrete have significantly evolved. In 1824, a British bricklayer by the name of Joseph Aspdin evolved the process, creating “Portland Cement." In its modern form, concrete has become one of the most common building materials globally.

When process vessels were facing significant corrosion and breakdown of their existing coatings, Corroless Eastern Limited was asked to provide a solution that would solve the issue of failing coatings while prepping and recoating their capital assets. This presented challenges, as they had to accommodate the vessels’ operational temperature cycles and minimize dust generation inside the manufacturing setting.

Surface preparation plays a crucial role in ensuring the longevity and reliability of both old and new industrial assets. This was especially true for a newly constructed water tank in Carrollton, Missouri (USA). Designed for use in the water and wastewater industry, the tank's steel interior was covered in mill scale, which had to be removed prior to coating. 

Steel roof decking is commonly found in manufacturing environments, such as power plants, food and pet food manufacturing facilities, marine production factories, and water treatment plants. Over time, whether as a result of manufacturing processes, bad surface prep, or normal wear and tear, coatings fail and corrosion can occur on these roof decks.

In the world of surface preparation products, where there are many abrasives to choose from, Sponge Media continues to stand out as an innovative solution versus other abrasives. Versatility is a core benefit of the Sponge-Jet system. With over 20 different kinds of Sponge Media™ and the ability to regulate media feed and blast pressure on Feed Units, most results required contractors, architects, and preservationists are achievable across many different substrates.

Oil spills present a unique challenge in the surface preparation world. In these scenarios, the oil needs to be properly removed prior to painting or coating surfaces, as any residue left on the surface can cause significant problems down the line. When oil is spilled on equipment where the coatings are still in good shape, it is important to remove all the oil without damaging the current coatings.