⠿ HULL MAINTENANCE
(^74) ⠿ MARINE MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL | APRIL 2016
Use of ultra-high-pressure water-jetting technology is rising and
more shipyards are relying on partially automated technology
Anne Walch, Falch
F
or some years, a clear trend has
been evident in the ship repair
sector – more and more shipyards
are switching from sand-blasting to
water-jetting technology and the advantages
of this switch are obvious. Sand-blasting
needs a greater logistic effort in terms
of supplying and disposing of sand, the
surface coverage per pass is relatively small,
and operators need special respiratory
protection measures and protective
garments due to the high levels of dust.
Falch has invested a lot of time and
expertise in high-pressure water-jet
technology to make its ultra-high-pressure
units – up to 3,000 bar working pressure –
safe and powerful. Besides these units, there
are a number of innovative accessories that
offer useful solutions for shipyards.
No-strain water jetting
Strain-free jetting
The Falch Multi Worker provides more power
and safety for hand-lance operation in a
recoil-free unit for hulls, decks and overhead
working. The higher the pressure and
volume used in water jetting, the greater the
fatigue from controlling the water-jet lance
by hand. Additionally, if the recoil force is
greater than 25kg, manual guidance of the
water jet is not permitted in a lot of countries.
Many contractors are complaining that it
is getting more difficult to find suitable,
motivated operators for hand-guided water-
jetting work – and all the while health and
safety regulations are becoming stricter.
Falch’s solution for increasing the safety
and working comfort for the user, was to
transform a back-breaking activity into more
enjoyable work.
With the Multi Worker, Falch managed
to reduce the recoil to practically zero for
the operator, while retaining the precision
of a hand lance – and all this allowing
between 200% and 400% more surface
coverage in any given period of time. The
Multi Worker covers a jetting area of up to
2 x 2m, using a swing range of 30° vertically
and horizontally. The horizontal movement
is carried out by the operator, and the up-
and-down movement and the distance are
set electrically by the controller.
Manual control
The Multi Worker permits pump output levels
that previously had been used exclusively
by robots. The unit is easy to move about
because of its trolley and with just a few
manual adjustments it can also be mounted
Raise the bar