Shenzhen AKA Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. has successfully deployed its magnetic crawler robot for a major maintenance project in Guangdong, completing UHP hydroblasting on the interior walls of a 10,000m³ petrochemical storage tank. The automated operation marks a significant shift away from traditional manual sandblasting, effectively eliminating dust pollution, mitigating high-altitude safety risks, and drastically streamlining the maintenance workflow for heavy petrochemical infrastructure.
Revolutionized robotic tank maintenance by WallHiker W-02
At present, most of the rust and paint removal of domestic oil storage tanks still adopts the traditional process of “scaffolding + manual sandblasting”. This method is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also produces a large amount of dust pollution and noise pollution during the sandblasting process, which is very harmful to the physical and mental health of workers. With the increasingly strict domestic environmental protection requirements and the increasing labor costs, it is an inevitable trend for robots to replace manual labor in this industry.
Figure 2. Robot rust and paint removal operation on the inner wall of the storage tank
Up to 6x times faster than manual sandblasting
After receiving the operation requirements of the petrochemical plant, the company set up a special engineering team with General Manager Mr.Li as the team leader. In the early stage, the two sides fully communicated and analyzed the actual construction steps and possible problems, and formulated detailed solutions. The company invested two magnetic crawler robots and successfully completed the oil tank inner wall cleaning project on schedule.
According to comprehensive calculations, the robot paint and rust removal efficiency has reached 5~6 times that of manual sandblasting, realizing dust-free, low-noise, safe and reliable green paint removal and rust removal and cleaning operations, and solving the environmental protection problems of petrochemical plant engineering operations.
| Item | Parameter |
|---|---|
| Max moving speed | 18m/min |
| Blasting efficiency | 30-40m2/hour |
| Pay Load | 60kg |
| Cleanliness | WA 2.5 |
| Robot Weight | 75kg |
Table 1. Parameters of the “WallHiker W-02” magnetic crawler robot
This time, the robot was used to complete large-area high-pressure water rust and paint removal operations in the petrochemical plant, which was the first in the domestic petrochemical industry. The model “WallHiker W-02” wall climbing robot is one of the core products that can be used for rust and paint removal operations on the inner and outer walls of petrochemical storage tanks after more than 2 years of careful polishing by the R&D team of AKA Robotics. This product belongs to medium-sized loads, with the advantages of high intelligence, good surface adaptability, and simple operation.
1st Generation ZONE II Explosion-proofed UHP hydroblasting robot – WallHiker EX-01
In addition, the company has also developed an explosion-proof wall climbing robot with the model “WallHiker Ex-01” for customers to choose from to meet the special requirements of petrochemical plants that need explosion-proof operations in some areas. The robot belongs to medium-sized loads, with high degree of intelligence and good surface adaptability, and adopts an overall explosion-proof design, which is suitable for rust and paint removal operations on the inner and outer walls of petrochemical storage tanks in explosive environments in Zone II. The on-site water pumping operation of the petrochemical plant also achieved good results.
| Item | Parameter |
|---|---|
| Max moving speed | 14m/min |
| Blasting efficiency | 30-45m2/hour |
| Pay Load | 50kg |
| Cleanliness | WA 2.5 |
| Robot Weight | 85kg |
Table 2. Parameters of “WallHiker Ex-01” explosion-proof wall climbing robot
Shenzhen AKA Robotics Technology Co., LTD was established in 2017 in February The founding team originated from the expert team in the field of robot research at the Precision Engineering Center of Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The company specializes in the research and development and transfer services of special robots, intelligent equipment and other technologies, as well as the manufacturing and sales of complete sets of equipment. At this stage, it is mainly committed to the product development and manufacturing of special wall climbing robots, aiming to completely free workers from the harsh working environment such as high danger and high pollution, and to clean the world, make work safe, and give workers comfort. Provide solutions and complete sets of equipment for ships, oil tanks, wind towers, offshore platforms and steel structure bridges for inspection, rust removal and cleaning, blasting, painting and grinding.
about
AKA Robotics
Leading innovation company of magnetic crawler robot in industries such as maritime, storage tank, wind farm ect.
