Mer offers a single, total solution for all your cargo hold cleaning needs – including equipment, chemicals and all necessary documentation. Through our extensive network we provide a complete range of services to support your port calls including sourcing, delivery and management of cargo hold cleaning operations.
Mer specializes in cleaning tanks that are utilized to store various product types including crude oil, fuel oil, slop oil, hazardous chemicals, wastewater, asphalt, and other products. Whether it’s routine maintenance to remove solids and sludge, decontamination measures, tank renovation, or the demolition and decommissioning of a tank, trained personnel will perform the storage/vessels’ tank cleaning.
We also supply an innovative and complete range of quality tank cleaning chemicals designed for any kind of tank cleaning.
Sludge builds up in tanks and vessels over time. The sludge needs to be removed at regular intervals in order to maintain a smooth running operation. Sludge removal can be a hazardous task if performed manually. For this reason tank and vessel sludge removal is carried out remotely wherever possible, or with minimum man-entry in confined spaces. A range of technologies have been developed for the oil and gas industry, as well as the chemical industry and others for sludge removal. Vacuum transfer systems can pump sludge safely from its source to a transport or storage source.
Apart from someone controlling the system remotely, no one needs to be near or even very close to the tank or vessel having its sludge removed. Of course, often it isn’t possible to remove sludge, mud or scale from a tank or vessel by a remotely controlled system and no man-entry requirement. Often man-entry becomes essential, and often too it is in a confined and awkward space, which makes the operation potentially hazardous.
Tank and vessel sludge removal is not usually an easy job. It requires a high emphasis on safety for those involved. For this reason remote sludge removal systems are preferred, but unfortunately are not always practical or possible to use.
Our technical team/experts can check the organic lead pollution status in the areas. Prior to commencing the activities the team leader debriefs the manager of the facility on the hazards and specific requirements, and safety meetings are regularly held during the works. The plant decommissioning starts: plant piping and tanks are opened with cold cutting techniques, any liquid or residual sludge it is possible to pump out is removed using pneumatic pumps and collected in storage drums.
Tanks are ventilated to remove any organic lead in the air, and explosive potential levels are checked. When acceptable levels have been reached operators enter the tanks and clean the surfaces to attain a gas-free status. After this, hot cutting is carried out and the tanks and rest of the plant are sectioned, pickled and flamed out until no organic lead is present.
