Recently our crew was dispatched to a tank manufacturing facility south of Edmonton to insulate a 400bbl tank Our inspected and well maintained mobile-foam-truck (see picture by reading all the article) made the journey as expected. Once on location we waited.
Our wait was not long as we arrived slightly ahead of schedule. I was able to observe how this tank was moved into position and placed on four steel supports to facilitate our expected applications. Once the tank was in place we could begin work.
Masking off of surfaces not needing foam is crucial to doing a good job. Knowing what to mask off is even more important. This proceedure typically takes as long as applying the urethane insulating foam itself. Here is a video of some action I captured.
 MVI_0861.AVI 6.05 MB 30.03.2006 19:56
After the masking is completed the urethane foam can be sprayed onto the 400bbl tank. Starting from the top our applicator sprays a pattern from the top of the tank to the back. Next the applicator systematically works his way from around the tank until all required surfaces are covered in a uniform amount of urethane foam.
The final procedure is a a repeat of the last paragraph except a protective black coating is applied to the outside of the urethane foam. This gives extra protection to the urethane foam insulation and helps to absorb heat during cold winter conditions. Clean up follows and we disembark back to our home location.
Note: These tanks are all primed according to specifications before we arrive. Without proper substrate preparation bonding of urethane foam can be comprimised. |
