Aquablast UHP in the Nuclear Decommissioning and Decontamination Industry
Aquablast has been supplying the UK nuclear
decommissioning and decontamination industry with Ultra High Pressure (UHP)
water blasting and water cutting systems at up 3,800 bar (55,000 psi) operating
pressure since 1990.
The company designs, manufactures, supplies and hires UHP systems for a wide
range of specialist tasks within the nuclear industry and this has included a
number of ground-breaking applications of very high pressure water technology.
Aquablast has drawn strongly on it's 18 years of experience pioneering the
introduction of UHP water into many industrial sectors to provide innovative
solutions for a number of costly cleaning and disposal problems in the nuclear
industry.
Aquablast UHP technology can gently massage away very light coatings or cut
away very heavy epoxy type coatings, heavy rust or scale and surface removal
of various metals including stainless steel.
Principal UHP water applications
in general industry include: |
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Steel surface preparation to bright metal standards
without abrasives for re-painting on flat surfaces and external and internal pipework |
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Concrete scabbling and laitance removal |
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Heat Exchanger Tube Bundle Cleaning |
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Removal of heavy, thick coatings and claddings such as rubber,
bitumen, plastic, glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), composites, waterproof membranes and
wooden decking |
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Fast, precise water jet cutting of steel, concrete and composite materials
by the entrainment of abrasives into the UHP water stream |
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Much of the experience gained operating a substantial UHP equipment rental fleet in general
industry was translatable into solutions for decontamination and decommissioning tasks.
Primary attractions of the technology
particularly suitable for the nuclear industry are: |
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Exceptionally low water consumption - as low as one litre per minute |
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Exceptionally low abrasive consumption for cutting - often less than 0.5 Kg per minute |
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Reliable operation at pressures as high as 60,000 psi (4000 bar) achieving highly successful decontamination results |
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User friendly lightweight application tooling with
very low reaction forces typically 12-25 lbs force (55 - 110N) |
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High Speed Rotary fluid swivels operating from 100 to 4000 bar
pressure and from 100 to 4000 rpm enabling precise control of surface removal depth
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Multi connection quick release couplings; changeable manually or by MSM |
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Aerosol removal systems for in-cell use |
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Deep single pass cutting ability to 300mm with abrasives |
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Underwater cutting and cleaning capability |
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No sparks, flames or aggressive chemicals employed |
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These features have successfully
contributed to: |
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Substantial reduction in arisings from cutting
or decontamination operations |
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Large savings in packaging, transportation
and disposal costs |
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Easy integration with remote deployment tools and MSM's |
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Sales of purpose built Aquablast UHP Systems
Projects in the United Kingdom have included: |
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Berkeley Power Station (Magnox) |
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Remotely deployed UHP concrete scabbling
power pack and tools for decontaminating storage pond walls.
Incorporated trailer mounted 35,000 psi power pack for versatility - the Aquablast
unit could therefore be used for a wide variety of other decontamination tasks on site.
Successful decontamination of fuel rod storage caskets resulting in free release
for scrapping.
Skip Cleaning - projects included removal of System 6 coatings from storage skips.
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AEA Technology |
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Trailer mounted 35,000 psi unit with 60,000 psi
module - permitted general UHP de-scaling and decontamination
key aspect of Aquablast is perfected over the last five years reliable UHP up to as
high as 60,000 psi.
Ability to pump reliably 60,000 psi very advantageous where minimal use of water is
vital - typically water flows average only 4 litres per minute.
4 litre 60,000 psi unit supplied as part of decommissioning package for material
sampling from reactor enclosures in marine power plants.
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Magnox / BNFL |
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HP decontamination of large bore pond cooling
pipework (12" - 15 inch) with self propelled centralising water jet assemblies
designed and built in house.
Successful trials on small bore tubing. Designed equipment to allow access
through multiple elbowed pipework. Tube cleaning capability inside ½ inch tubing.
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BNFL |
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Design and installation of system for
cleaning slave ends of MSM and crane modules. |
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Hunterston Power Station |
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Supply of UHP equipment for general
purpose decontamination cell.. |
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