Remote cleanup kit for boats and towers

Although it only measures a neat 650 by 620 by 550mm, it’s twin jet nozzles are on the end of a long swinging arm so they traverse a broad arc, giving TorboMate a working width of 1,600mm and a top coverage speed of up to 72 m²/h – about five times faster than a handheld lance.

However, the kit isn’t just for cleaning metal hulls, it has now established itself in the German wind industry and promises to reach the rest of Europe.

“It really puts a blasting unit on a trolley… one that can creep up any steel structure at up to 6m per minute,” said Mr Flanagan. “It sticks by using powerful electromagnets, so it can even traverse the vertical walls of a steel, offshore wind tower.” For those that are worried about the potential for this 45kg machine coming unstuck and creating havoc, these electromagnets have been designed to resist the effects of seawater, and they exert a whopping 250kg of pull at a 3mm distance from a metal 10mm thick. In fact, it can even safely make its way all around the bulbous bow of a ship in dock.

Since it can be controlled from below, a TorboMate and portable generator and compressor could be shipped out by support boat and put to work on cleaning and maintaining windfarms. He said: “This machine cuts down both manpower hours and the possibility of incidents, so it ticks the Health & Safety boxes nicely.”

Onboard is an electric motor yielding 1.5kW of drive power: the crawler’s controls utilise a 24V battery or pneumatic line. The blasting jets do need a compressed air feed “though this doesn’t require a large or specialised compressor, just a 180 cfm, moderately-sized unit will do,” said Mr Flanagan.

Given this and a power line the robot cleaner can take off rust, sludge and old treatments, leaving a surface ready for another finish. Internally designed swivel mounts are able to handle up to 3,000 bar water tools or, optionally, there’s a holder for sandblast nozzles.

Interesting, although the crawler is normally directed via a 24V control link, if the TorboMate is going to be utilised in potentially explosive conditions (and therefore needs to be fully ATEX compliant), this can be changed for pneumatic switchgears and controlled via a wireless hand-held device.

Visit Ecoblast at Seawork International 2018 on Stand SR14.

By Stevie Knight