It is challenging to keep an asset running without failure. Maintaining the fabric and infrastructure of a production asset is essential to extending its lifespan.

Fabric Maintenance is important to ensuring the integrity of an asset. In time past, Fabric Maintenance was ignored and termed non-safety critical but over time, it has been identified to play an important role in keeping an asset running safely.

A remarkable recognition on the importance of fabric maintenance was recorded with the Health Safety Executive’s Key Program 3 (KP3) that held from 2004-2007. Ever since, Fabric Maintenance has remained relevant in the Oil and Gas industry as the benefits of asset integrity cannot be over emphasized.

Services in Fabric Maintenance include;

• Welding and Fabrication
• Blasting and Painting
• Insulation and Lagging
• Scaffolding and Access Solutions
• Clean Spool Management
• Flange management
• Instrument Calibration etc.

However, for the purpose of this post, our focus will be on Blasting and Painting as a Fabric Maintenance Solution.

Blasting is used to remove imperfections, paints, rusts, grease and other contaminants from a surface. It is important in surface painting preparation as it creates a surface that will hold a protective painting.

Blasting Methods

There are several blasting methods, but they will be streamlined to two commonly adopted methods;

• Hydro Blasting Method:This is also called “Water Blasting”. This method uses high pressure water to remove debris, chemical and rust. It is worth noting that the steel surface produced after hydro blasting does not look like that of an abrasive blasting. Hydro-blasted surfaces tend to look dull which is because water on it own does not cut or deform the surface being blasted.

• Dry Abrasive Blasting: This method entails the use of either metallic or nonmetallic abrasives for descaling or removal of rust from a corroded surface. This is one of the best and most common form of surface preparation before application of coating/Paints. The abrasives come in different sizes depending on the profile required for each coating/paint.

Blasting and Painting are used in a lot of industries like the Oil and Gas, Construction, Marine and Manufacturing industries to avert asset failure. Steels and other metals are used in these industries and need protection from corrosion to preserve structural integrity and extend their life.

Here are five benefits of Blasting and Painting:

• Economic Advantage

Blasting is generally inexpensive compared to the cost of losing assets such as vessels, pipeworks, equipment and facilities. Blasting efficiently cleans surfaces better and faster than traditional methods. It’s also effective at removing rust on metal surfaces, as well as preparing the surfaces for painting applications or coating.

• Rust and Corrosion Control

Blasting is effective for providing a quick way to clean contaminants, hard surfaces and preparing the surfaces for painting. One way to keep machines up and running is to protect them from rust and corrosion that can lead to the failure of an entire equipment or asset with resultant effect of prolonged downtime and extra cost.

Blasting and Painting provide a pretty paint job offering amazing protection against environmental hazards. They play a vital role in preserving, protecting and beautifying the objects on which they are applied and are essential to maintaining the appearance, functionality and durability of structures, products and equipment.

• Extended Asset Service Life

Blasting and Painting will restore an asset’s original finish. Adequate control of coating and painting techniques will result in a high quality, reliable finish that can help extend the life cycle of the assets, thus increasing return on investment.

• Safety

It is a known fact that a deteriorated structure is like a ticking time bomb especially in an oil facility or areas operating on an extremely high pressure and temperature thus need for these structures to be adequately protected corrosion wise.

• Improved Efficiency

Blasting gets to the nooks and crannies of any surface undergoing cleaning, ensuring a faster and more thorough process. It also saves time and gets the work done in the shortest possible time.

Having a tough time deciding on what Fabric Maintenance company to give your assets and equipment to for that professional touch? JC International provides remedial and touch up work on existing facilities as well as coating of new facilities and equipment.

For your fabric maintenance needs, you can call us on +234 8076291170 or click here to read more about our Fabric Maintenance service.