An integrated surface preparation and painting installation custom-built by Hodge Clemco has considerably expanded and upgraded the product finishing capabilities of a major supplier to Walmart.

The company can now refurbish large bulky items economically and efficiently in-house at its premises on Merseyside, without increasing manpower and avoiding the use of sub-contractors.

The client specialises in the maintenance of premises and equipment for supermarkets, both in situ and at its Merseyside factory. Before the new installation was completed, only smaller items of equipment could be finished in- house, and larger items had to be sent to external sub-contractors.

A major contract from Walmart, one of the company’s biggest customers, for refurbishing large items of equipment such as scissor lifts, waste compactors, catering equipment and refrigeration units prompted the decision to invest in new and bigger facilities.

The installation, which was designed and built by Hodge Clemco, includes an internally sited blast room for surface preparation, a reverse pulse dust extraction system, blast machine and operator protective equipment, a pneumatically operated abrasive recovery system and a dry-filter spray booth. The items to be painted are carried on an overhead conveyor beam with a two-tonne capacity.

The blast room, which measures 6m long x 3.7m wide x 5m high, is built of modular panels and includes double doors at both ends. The modular design will enable the equipment to be expanded easily in the future if required.

A reverse pulse cartridge dust extraction system has been incorporated to provide efficient dust collection performance, while ensuring the maximum amount of abrasive material is recycled. The system is designed so that a short pulse of air at pre-determined intervals causes the dust accumulated on the cartridges to fall into collection bins below. As this takes place while the dust collector is operating, the efficiency of the extraction is maintained throughout the working cycle.

The blast cleaning equipment is a high-production direct pressure unit which is joined directly to the outlet of the storage hopper to form a totally enclosed and sealed feed system. Chilled iron abrasive is used to provide rapid cleaning of equipment with painted and corroded surfaces. This material can also be recycled many times.

Abrasive material is recovered by means of a pneumatically operated sweep-in unit consisting of a floor hopper with grating and suction nozzle, suction filter and vacuum silo. Once all debris and dust has been swept into the floor hopper, the system automatically separates re-usable media from the dust and other material and returns it to the blast machine.

Equipment and components are carried through the blast room on a two-tonne capacity overhead conveyor beam with two travel trolleys, each fitted with a manual lifting hoist. The beam extends the full length of the blast room and 12 metres outside it to a handling area with an open-fronted spray booth.

The spray booth is an Enviraclean PEC4500 open-fronted dry filter model 4500mm wide x 1160mm deep and with a working open height of 2000mm. The surface of the interior has been designed to be as smooth as possible, and a dralle high-efficiency filter has been included to maximise paint removal and holding capacity. Two 600mm diameter extractor fans produce an airflow of 16,000 cfm (27,200m3/hr) and a face velocity of at least 150 ft/min.

As well as designing, building, installing and commissioning the equipment, Hodge Clemco was responsible for all related electrical and mechanical work. Having commissioned the equipment Hodge Clemco provided operators with the appropriate training.