FEATURED – Page 5 – Advisory Council

Common Safety Errors Found in Pressure Washing, Hydroblasting, or WaterJetting

Reviewed: 2011-05-17 by Lydia Frenzel

The Advisory Council compiled a Special Report of errors, accidents, incorrect assembly practices and faulty work habits in 2002. Luis Ortega Trotter, who is now deceased, from AcquaBlast in Brazil provided the photos to the Advisory Council WaterJet Workshop on Surface Preparation held at the 2001 WJTA Conference. Ortega was concerned about the difference in the training and education of the work force in Central and South America and developing countries, compared to those of North America-Canada-USA-Europe.

These mistakes seem like “It couldn’t happen on my site.” They are mistakes that might not be observed in a quick inspection. Yet Lydia Frenzel gets calls about cut or frayed hoses, kinked lines, and pressure relief valves that are installed incorrectly. Don’t let this happen on your site. Contact the Advisory Council for a copy.

Luis Ortega received the WJTA Best paper award in 2001 for his Comparison of Abrasive Blasting, Wet Abrasive Blasting, Waterjetting-Hydro Blasting, Needle Gun cleaning, and Grinding on a Pulp Mill in Brasil (Brazil). The paper compares salt residuals and costs. Contact the Advisory Council for a copy and his presentation. Frenzel lost contact with AcquaBlast after Luis Ortega died and Juan C. Ortega became the owner. Web site is www.acquablast.com.br; email: acquablast@acquablast.com.br

The errors include:

1 Incorrect installation of water filter in the wrong direction resulting in deformation of the pressure filter

2 Blown-out hose out due to incorrect installation of particulate water filter.

3 Pressure relief seal installed incorrectly

4 Over tightening of fittings.

5 Caustic in by-pass valve resulting in failure

6 Missing pipe connection that results in blow-out of concrete

7 By-pass assembly damaged from being dropped or falling

8 Cutting of hoses on sharp edges

9 No hose covering or sheathing or protector

10 Destruction of triggers of jetter pistol/gun from caustic so that dual trigger protection was not operational

11 Incorrect scaffolding

12 Employee without gloves, security-safety-tie-off belt; single trigger instead of dual trigger, gun

13 Employee placing a hand in the water bypass (water dump hose)

14 PVC gloves instead of steel mesh or waterjet safety gloves

15 No eye protection or gloves

16 No whip lock or whip check

17 Terminal end of high pressure connection has damaged thread, no lubrication

Test Protocol for Corrosion Inhibitors or Cleaners for Flash Rust

A Test Method for Corrosion Inhibitors or Cleaners for Flash Rust has been posted on flashrust.org.

Dr. Frenzel prepared this protocol from a Proprietary Inhibitor and Cleaner in a generic form. Specific concentrations should be changed to those of the inhibitor/cleaner under consideration.

This document provides guidelines for testing Proprietary Inhibitor and Cleaner used according to its manufacturer’s instructions. These test guidelines are necessary because applicable ASTM test procedures specifically require that tests be conducted in a manner consistent with the manufacturer’s instructions for use of the product tested. Since the performance of the product is application sensitive, this step by step test procedure should be helpful in the evaluation of its performance in various surface preparation methods.

Panel Preparation

Steel test panels should be used when testing for rust formation. The size of the panels may vary but generally are 3″ x 5″ x 0.25″. Ten panels per coating is generally adequate to test for both salt removal and coating adhesion.

All panels, with the exception of the control panel, should be immersed for 100 hours in an 8-10% weight by weight (w/w) sodium chloride solution to accelerate rust development. The control panel which was not immersed in salt water solution will establish the baseline reading for salts and other contaminants levels.

In addition to the control panel, leave one test panel out of the blast sequence to measure the salt levels deposited after 100 hours of immersion. The other eight panels will be blasted to SSPC-SP10 (NACE 2)(Near White) using the either the water-abrasive blasting method or the dry blast method.

Go to flashrust.org to see the complete test.

Astronomy Bug

We usually deal with water jetting and industrial news, but it’s worth noting that many of our members are nuts about space and astronomy. I’m one of those people who stood out under the stars during the coldest winter nights in northern Oklahoma and froze my eyelids to the frosty eyepiece while staring at Jupiter’s red spot and Saturn’s rings. I photographed the moon and Orion’s Nebula and was fascinated by the Ring Nebula in Lyra.

The Amador Astronomical Society’s website is a great one to scratch that old itch. Go look at a few pictures and see what people are doing in the Sierra Nevada’s east of Sacramento, California, where the skies are often clear and the stars don’t hop around like jack rabbits as they do in Texas.

Link to Amador Astronomical Society

Fat Squirrel Publishing Accepting Manuscripts

Fat Squirrel Publishing is accepting manuscripts for review for electronic publishing in Kindle format. Submissions must be in Word format, illustrations not embedded but as separate jpegs or tifs. The author must have full rights in the U.S. The subject of the paper must address practical problems in water jetting that involve surface preparation and corrosion control. Bi-annual publication is planned.

Submission by email only. Acknowlegement usually within 2 weeks.

Inquire at: Submissions

MegaRust 2009

Mega Rust Workshop

Date : 2009-03-12
2 Separate Workshops on “How to Inspect for Flash Rust”
To replace the description sent out on 2009-03-09
Contact Person: Lydia Frenzel

Frenzel tried to cover two workshops with one write-up. This was confusing to some people.

The tag line “Practical Solutions for Practical Problems” reflects Dr. Frenzel’s approach to life with the “Keep it Simple Stupid” approach. If you are an inspector and never been on a waterjetting job, OR If you have ever been in an argument concerning light, moderate, or heavy flash rust, this workshop is for you.

Here are two separate Press Releases.
=================================
Who: Lydia Frenzel
Date: June 8, 2009
Where: Megarust, Norfolk, VA
For Registration : www.nstcenter.com

Description: Surface Preparation using WaterJet or Wet Abrasive Blast Cleaning. \How to Inspect for Flash Rust.
You will learn how to Inspect for FLASH RUST
WHAT happens to the SURFACE?

This four hour interactive workshop will feature “HOW TO INSPECT FLASH RUST” –new training material, funded by National Shipbuilding Research Program, that augments the FROSIO, NACE and SSPC Coating Inspector Courses.

How the acceptance of Waterjet Cleaning has changed the industry’s view on what is Surface Preparation over the past 30 years.

This workshop includes, but is not limited to:
What is “flash rust?”
How do you reduce the amount of Flash Rust during the project?
Field Examples of 4 methods to determine the amount of flash rust
Wiping with cloth held in hand
Wiping with swatch of cloth
Wiping with Brush
Tape Pull Test
What does the surface look like after pressure washing?

What are the field studies of 20 years showing on the performance of coatings over surfaces cleaned with hand-held and robotic waterjet systems?

Certificate of Attendance and dvd will be issued

Level of Competence- All levels- certified inspectors, engineers, contractors, specifiers, jetters
Sponsored by: Advisory Council and MegaRust
Spend personal time with Dr. Lydia Frenzel, “Waterwitch of the West”, and the chair of the SSPC/NACE waterjetting and water-abrasive committees, and author of SSPC C-13 WJ course.

=======================
Who: Dr. Lydia Frenzel, and other industry Experts
Date: Tuesday August 18,2009
Where: WJTA Conference, Houston Texas
For Registration: www.wjta.org for details
Cost: $280- $340 for Tuesday workshop only;
You can register for the workshop without registering for the entire WJTA conference.

Description: “Waterjet Technology, Basics and Beyond,”- Full day Course

“Waterjet Technology, Basics and Beyond” –
The morning sessions cover the waterjet technology basics: history (30 minutes), equipment (40 minutes), applications (50 minutes) and safety (50 minutes)
Afternoon: 2 hour break out sessions covering: Cleaning Applications, Cutting Applications, Hydro-Excavation and Surface Preparation Applications, followed by Panel Q&A

The Surface Preparation session will feature “HOW TO INSPECT FLASH RUST” –new training material, funded by National Shipbuilding Research Program, that augments the FROSIO, NACE and SSPC Coating Inspector Courses.

Time permitting: How the acceptance of Waterjet Cleaning has changed the industry’s view on what is Surface Preparation over the past 30 years.

Certificate of Attendance and dvd will be issued

Level of Competence- All levels- certified inspectors, engineers, contractors, specifiers, jetters
Sponsored by: Advisory Council and WJTA

Spend personal time with Dr. Lydia Frenzel, “Waterwitch of the West”, and the chair of the SSPC/NACE waterjetting and water-abrasive committees, and author of SSPC C-13 WJ course.
========

Lydia M. Frenzel
PO Box 2139
San Marcos TX 78667
Tel/Fax (1) 800-308-7416