Sandblasting and painting
Depending on the customer's requirements, The cleaning and coloring shop of the Anticorrosive Coatings Plant carries out anticorrosive works on various types of metal constructions and their parts, pressure and pressure vessels used in construction, machine building and other industries. Currently, 2 areas – sandblasting (surface preparation) and painting operate at the shop.
Products gradually oxidize when they come contact with oxygen. Dew and seawater and some acids accelerate this oxidation and create a rust. As a result, the resistance of the metal is broken and causes decay. Every product made of iron and steel becomes unusable after a while. To prevent this, it is essential to prevent the contact of material with oxygen. The most profitable way to do it is painting.
Before painting a metal product, the most important process is to clean its surface from grease, rust, concrete and dye scales. The ideal surface cleaning method is sandblasting. This technological process is called sandblasting since the sand is used in the cleaning as the main material. Sanding is the main stage of preparation of metal surfaces to painting. The efficiency of this cleansing will allow you to make a quality painting, to adhere the dye more firmly on the surface and ensure longevity of the product. If this process is not performed before painting, the lifetime of the metal structure is diminished. A well-prepared surface ensures a 10-year + service life for a typical multilayer color system. However, if the same system is applied on a surface containing traces of even the slightest pollution, the service life is diminished to only 4-6 years, and sometimes less. The definition of sandblasting is abrasive cleaning method with abrasion of a thin surface as a result of the crushing of the sand through the surface by applying the high-pressure air (with various sized granules).
The sandblasting process is carried out in accordance with different standards. In the sandblasting and painting shop of the STP, the contaminants are cleaned from the metal surface as per SA 2 and SA 2.5 standards at the request of the customer. The sandblasting process is carried out using metal crumbs, dry sand, water, flame, steam, manually or by means of mechanical devices. During the process, highly skilled professionals wear gowns and special uniforms.
Primer dye is applied immediately at the initial stage after cleaning the metal surfaces by sandblasting method. Otherwise, the metal surfaces are oxidized in a short period of time and the metal can rust again. The paint to be applied will also be selected according to the exploitation purpose of the metal. The different paint should be used in the parts to be exposed to a high temperature, another paint should be applied to the metal to be used in highly corrosive conditions.
Other types of paints are used for the metal to be used at places with high salinity. The painting is applied by both brush and airless paint machines. In the STP, materials are painted using traditional and modern technologies. The plant has all necessary equipment and techniques for painting of any product irrespective of its size.
