In a refinery expansion, one of the large storage tanks was designated as a slop tank for the temporary storage of process fluids produced in the manufacture of MEG. As the contents of the tank would vary, as would the ph, water content and salinity, TSA (Thermal Sprayed Aluminum) was selected as the internal coating for the entire tank.

The TSA coating was carried out by MTMM on site in a refinery in Singapore. The storage tank was 15m high x 15m diameter, and accessed through a 24inch (600mm) sized manhole. Given the scaffolding and the requirement to access to the top of the tank, the TSA equipment had to be capable of spraying off scaffolding, and at a distance of over 40m from the power supply / rectifier. As the scaffolding was “standard”, no heavy loads could be placed on the scaffolding to prevent overloading. The IMC supplied Arc spray equipment used by MTM fits this requirement perfectly, only the 10kg wire feeder needs to “follow” the applicators up onto the scaffolding, and it fits neatly through a 24inch manhole. We can also work up to 100m independently of our heavy power supply.

The work was carried out over several months to an oil major’s specification. With our low porosity coating, no sealer coat was required.