Have you wondered if it's important to select a welded steel tank company that owns its own industrial coatings division? Well, wonder no longer – the answer is it is very important! Here's why.
The coating process begins early in the fabrication process and even precedes it in some cases. By controlling the coating application, T BAILEY, INC. ensures coating and fabrication methods are properly sequenced so that the project is finished on budget, to quality specifications, and on schedule.
The enemy of your welded steel tank is corrosion. Corrosion can attack your tank on the inside, outside, underneath, and under the insulation. An engineered quality coating system is the first line of defense in a multi-faceted protection plan designed to extend the life of your tank.
You may have noticed we intentionally do not use the title, “Paint Division” at T BAILEY, INC. Industrial coatings are sophisticated products, specifically manufactured for the surface to which they will be applied and the service they will endure. Industrial Coatings have specific preparation, mixing, application and re-coating instructions and are recommended for “Professional Application Only”.
Preparation of a steel substrate is a key step in the steel tank coating process. Steel has very little adhesion value when it comes from the mill, and it must be prepared to receive a coating. Blast cleaning is one of the primary surface preparation methods prescribed by SSPC (The Society for Protective Coatings, formerly: The Steel Structures Painting Council). Blast cleaning, when done on steel tanks manually in the field, can be quite expensive.
T BAILEY, INC. uses an automated mechanical blast cleaning machine manufactured by Wheelabrator, Inc. Our “wheel” can prepare a 10’ x 30’ sheet of steel on both surfaces to “SSPC-SP10 Near-White Metal Blast Cleaning” in approximately 5 minutes; a fraction of the time and cost of a manual method. When other contractors propose to perform a full-field, blast and coat, you are paying for a manually performed blast clean on every square foot of your welded steel tank.
Another unrecognized issue that can arise when blast cleaning steel is the steel manufacturing process. It involves high pressure sprays designed to remove all loose mill scale and debris from the surface of the plate immediately before the plate enters the rolling station. Sometimes this system is less effective and the debris remains on the plate surface and is pressed into the surface of the steel. The problem is, you can’t see this condition until after blast cleaning removes the mill scale from the plate and reveals the pits and depressions caused by the debris not being removed before rolling. At T BAILEY, INC., we inspect each piece under bright lights immediately after blast cleaning and have welders on hand to make any and all necessary repairs before anything proceeds.
T BAILEY, INC. is a not only a heavy plate/structural fabrication facility with a SSPC QP3 / AISC certified Coatings group, but is also a diversified heavy-civil/industrial general contractor. We understand that schedule drives everything. If your project encounters a delay or change order during the fabrication process, you could miss the scheduled window at the subcontracted painter and move your project down the line. When the fabricator owns the coating process, they control the schedule and can make sure your steel tank is finished when you need it to be.
To help ensure your project has the best outcome possible, make sure you select a Quality Fabricator with an Industrial Coatings Division.