Tata Steel is one of the world’s leading steel producers, and its Hartlepool UK site – covering an area equivalent to 50 football fields – requires an eight hour housekeeping shift weekly.
The Need
Part of the cleaning regime involves dealing with a large amount of waste from the submerged arc welding machines and operations in several separate locations. Traditionally, all this work was carried out manually using brooms, shovels and barrows, but this was an inefficient way to sweep up and collect all the flux slag and granules, especially from within and around the submerged arc welding machines.
Tata’s production team previously tried various other cleaning machines, but found that these other units would block up and break down, and insufficient capacity meant they would spend more time emptying them than doing the cleaning up.
The Result
The SkipVac allows the production crew to clean in awkward places such as around the arc welding machines, down the pits and around the cable trays and conveyor.
The DISAB SkipVac’s suction power also means an operator can, with the various extension pipes and cleaning heads, do a much better job of cleaning all of these areas.
“The DISAB SkipVac is an excellent machine that’s got capacity, reliability and is easy to empty. It’s also easy to move around with a forklift. It handled 2-3 tonnes of flux slag quite happily and didn’t need emptying every five minutes. But what we really liked was its suction power.”
Consequently, all the waste material collected is sucked down into a handy one tonne collection bag, and can be tipped back into the process that turns the materials into finished product.
“One of the SkipVac’s best features is the easy way it’s emptied out. It’s just a matter of getting a forklift to lift the top section away from the DISAB SkipVac hopper, and then taking the hopper to wherever the waste needs to be disposed of. It’s safe and simple, and presents no risk to the operators.”