Tank Cleaning using Hydro Jetting.

TANK CLEANING NORMS

As per the IQCM,

Product Tanks need to be cleaned every five

years.

Product Tanks need to be cleaned whenever

there is a grade change
 Practice in Vogue for Tank Cleaning

The Product tanks are cleaned Manually

as per

OCTEL Manual

BPCL’s Manual on Leaded Gasoline Tank

Cleaning
 TIME TAKEN FOR MANUAL CLEANING

Time taken for Gas Freeing & Manual

Cleaning of the Tank is :

Forced ventilation for getting LEL limits  20 Days

Manual Cleaning  40 Days
 Preparing bottom surface for Inspection by
removing scales etc.  10 Days

Therefore Total time taken for offering

Tank for Inspection is Approximately 70 Days
What made us think for alternative ?
 Higher Time taken for Tank Cleaning( Manual
Method)

 Pressure for Speedier Conversion of Tanks for

handling Branded fuels like ; EBMS, Speed,
Speed 93 etc.,

 Faster turn around / lesser outage of the Product

tanks at Sewree , in view of the BPCR
containment problems.
Origination of IDEA.
Use of Hydro Jetting for Cleaning of Water
Tanks in High Rise Buildings.

 What is hydro jetting ?

Hydro jetting is a technique for cleaning
surfaces, which relies entirely on the energy of
water ( High Pressure) to achieve its cleaning
effects.
 PRINCIPLE

(300 to 400 Bar Pressure)

(Fluidized Sludge )

Venturi Effect
Equipment’s Customization for Sludge Removal
 Use of Pressurized water
( 300 to 400 Bar) Using a
specially designed Bell
Type venturi with
inversely fitted Nozzle
ejecting water at high
pressure.

 High pressure water

creates Venturi effect
near the submerged bell
and picks / sucks the
fluidized sludge and
disposes of the same.
Procedure / Methodology
Step 1 : Desludging
Removes solid bottom
sediments ie sludge from the
tank into secondary
containments ie Barrels etc. for
disposal using High pressure
systems . The process will
continue until the bulk of the
sludge has been removed.

Step 2 : Fine Cleaning

The Tank is washed thoroughly
using high pressure water
jetting.
Stages
Sludge inside the Tank Surface after Sludge Removal
Sludge inside the Tank

Hydro Blasting
Surface After Hydro Blasting Surface After Hydro Blasting
 Manual Method Vs Hydro jetting method
Manual Methods :
 Human entry into Confined
Space i.e. Increased risk
of exposure to HC
 Higher man power
required
 Poor working conditions
 Higher cleaning time
increases the risk of safety
violations
Hydro jetting Method:
 Human entry only during
the insertion of bell type
Venturi, hence min.
exposure to HC.
 Lesser Manpower
 Better working conditions
 Lower cleaning time thus
reducing the risk of safety
violation
 Manual Method Vs Hydro Jetting method
Manual Methods : Hydro jetting Method:

 More quantity of thick oily  Reduces sludge quantity

sludge
 Lesser recovery of  More recovery of product.
Product.

To Sum up the Advantages of Hydro Jetting are : 3 E’s

•Environment Friendly
•Effective / Speedier Cleaning
•Economical
 Environmental Responsibility

Minimize waste and increases recovery of oil –

which is a potential source of pollution.

It reduces the risk of V O C’s and Vapour release

into the environment.
Cost & Time Analysis ( Manual Vs Hydro Jetting)
Hydro Jetting Manual Saving
Tank
Dia
( Mtr) Product Cost Days Cost Days Cost Days(%)

20 BO 0.32 3 0.25 60 -0.07 57( 95%)

25 BO 0.39 4 0.27 60 -0.12 56 (93%)

36 MS 0.35 6 0.3 70 -0.05 64 (91%)

32 MTO 0.3 4 0.27 60 -0.03 56 (93%)

 HURDLES FACED & OVERCOME

Hurdles Overcoming
 Static Charge  Use of Earthing Relay as
generation per API 2015.

 Deviation from the  Elimination of Human

OCTEL / BPCL’S entry.
manual on Leaded
gasoline Tank
Cleaning
 Technical Features of Hydro jetting unit.

A specially designed pressure-compensated valve

that automatically opens to allow unrestricted flow
to a closed (operating mode) dump type gun, and
automatically closes when the dump gun is opened
(dump mode). The entire nozzle assembly can be
adjusted to ideal nozzle stand-off distances up to 1-
2 feet to suit the job to be done. Safety is ensured
by using trigger the release of which reduces the
system pressure to minimum.
Equipment Specifications

Name of the machine : Hydro blasting machine.

Number of Units : 04 Nos.
Type of machine : Flameproof/Non Flameproof/Diesel Engine
Versions.
Pressure Rating : 300 - 1500 Bar
Power Requirement : 15 - 220 H.P ( 3 Phase, 415 V, 50Hz. )
Water output : 20 - 85 LPM.
Operating mechanism : All through Spray gun.
Nozzles : Zero jet, 0-25 degree jet, Rotating nozzle,
Slurry removal cone, Wet sand blaster,
Flexible tube cleaner.
Special purpose nozzles : 3 way rear jet nozzle [ 12mm- 28mm].
(For Heat exchanger 1 front, 3 rear jet nozzle [ 12mm- 28mm].
Cleaning ) 4 way rear jet nozzle [ 12mm- 28mm].
3 way combination nozzle [ 12mm- 28mm].
Cross jet rotating nozzle [ 12mm- 28mm].
Electric cable : More than 200 fts.
High pressure hose : More than 300 fts.
Tools and tackles : One complete set of tools with each machine.