Introduction
Discover how our client, one of the world's leading producers of paints, has simplified the process of washing steel tanks and IBC containers, reducing washing cost by 62%, washing time by 70% and increasing the quality of cleaning.
Initial situation
Our customer has the need to wash between 10 to 25 mixing tanks and about 5 to 10 IBC's per day, the initial situation involved 3 workers washing manually using solvents and brushes to clean the tanks. This meant a cost that exceeded € 500 per day between labor and the cost of the solvent (€ 110,000 per year).
In addition, the working conditions for the workers were not acceptable, which meant that many times the quality of the wash that was obtained was not what expected.
The applied solution
Basca supported the client to analyze the best solution to wash the containers thought washing test done at Basca Facilities. After determining the best washing solutions, we supply a Basca Washing Machine equipped with a hybrid system of brushes that generate a mechanical action and a system of nozzles that injected solvent as a chemical agent for cleaning.
Together with the Basca Washing Machine, we installed a small solvent regeneration system that allowed to recover the dirty solvent and use it again to wash, limiting the purchase and disposal of solvents.
The entire system is managed by a single operator, which allowed two people to be used to perform other tasks that generated greater value for the company.
The operator positions the tank to be washed in the correct position inside the machine; connects a tube for the recirculation of the solvent to the lower valve of the tank; selects the program in the control panel and starts the machine. The head of the machine introduces the brushes inside the tank and seals the top to prevent the solvent overflowing in the tank top.
Inside, the brushes begin to rotate and move vertically exerting a mechanical effect, at the same time, the nozzles inject solvent from a storage tank of the machine that recirculates through the tube connected to the lower valve. This form of washing lasts approximately 2 minutes.
At the end of the wash cycle, the machine automatically switches to the rinsing mode and injects clean solvent into the system.
The volume equivalent of clean solvent that has been injected into the recirculation system is transferred to an auxiliary storage tank. Once the auxiliary storage tank is filled, it transfers the solvent to the solvent regeneration machine, which separates the solvent from the paint pigments and obtains a clean solvent and an inert mud that can be discarded easily. The operation of the regeneration system is automatic and does not require the dedicated use of an operator.
The regenerated solvent is transferred to a clean solvent storage tank and will be injected in the following rinse cycles. In this way the solvent is kept in a closed circuit, eliminating it's consumption at all. This is a huge improvement in the safety conditions inside the factory since it's not necessary to manually transport highly flammable substances.
Applying this technology, a single operator manages all the operation of the system, it has the possibility of washing a greater number of mixing tanks and in less time, the risk of health problems is reduced by eliminating the exposure of workers to toxic products and simplifies the management of dangerous products.
Results obtained
Increase in productivity + 30%
Inefficiency reduction - 75%
Cost reduction / year € 92.400.00
Payback facility 15 months
Benefits
Increase in production - a greater number of tanks that can be washed.
Increase in efficiency - less dispersion of resources and controllable processes.
Labor cost reduction - the reduction of low added value activities.
Increased safety - no more jobs at high risk to health and elimination of the transport of hazardous substances.
Greater flexibility - the ability to wash different types of containers.