Tank cleaning machines wash out the internal surfaces of a storage, marine or process tanks. Tank cleaning machines often use a spray washing systems or fill & drain pumping systems. Tank cleaning machine can dramatically improve productivity and personnel safety over manual cleaning methods. In the manual tanking cleaning method, an operator must enter the tank and manually clean the internal surfaces. Whenever ingress into a tank occurs, an operator can be exposed to toxic fumes, hazardous liquid chemicals and suffocation risks. Tank cleaning systems are safer and can be more than 10 times faster than manual methods. Chemical cleaning solutions can be used with higher concentrations of acids, detergents and sanitizers and at higher temperatures compared to manual cleaning methods.'

Tank spray cleaning systems can consist of rotary spray heads, jet heads, static spray balls, extension lances and pumping systems. Some systems can have automated retraction or extension mechanisms to automate movement the spray head and lance into the tank. Pressurized water, heated cleaning solutions, sanitizers, acid cleaners, and rinses are sprayed on the internal surfaces of the tank. The high pressure stream impinges against the internal surface to provide optimal cleaning and removal of tank residues. The tank cleaning system may also have a sub-system for collection, separation and treatment of tank residues or volatile gasses.

Video Credit: FSI Environmental Services 

Clean-in-place systems is somewhat synonymous with tank washing machines, but clean-in-place systems are also used to clean the internal surfaces of process lines, process equipment in addition tank internals. A clean in place system or CIP system can use a spray washing method or a fill & drain flush cleaning method. In the fill and drain method, the tanks are filled with the heated cleaning solutions, acid cleaners, sanitizers, or rinses with draining of the cleaning fluid in between. Clean in place systems mean the tank or process vessel are not dissembled and cleaned in another location. Clean in place systems can be stationary or mobile. Pharmaceutical plants often have stationary CIP system integrated into the process line.

Applications

Process Tanks, pressure vessels and chemical reactors must be cleaned between the manufacture of different chemical batches. Any chemical product or by-product must be removed from the internal surface of the tank , vessel or reactor to avoid contamination of the next batch.

Storage and process tanks used in wineries, breweries, pharmaceutical operations, food production plants and beverage bottling facilities also require a sanitary cleaning process between storage or processing of different batches.

Tank cleaning equipment for crude oil tanks, drilling fluid mud tanks, under ground fuel storage tanks, and vehicle fuel tanks can require additional equipment to avoid explosions, remove sludge, separate out solids, separate oil from sludge, separate oil-water mixtures and recover or purify stored oils and fuels. 

Septic tanks, black water tanks, gray water tanks, wastewater treatment or neutralization tanks, and sewer manholes require cleaning and removal of waste solids.

The transport tanks on tanker ships, rail tanker cars or roadway tanker trucks periodically require cleaning to maintain clean tanks for the transport of liquid products.

Resource 

Guide to Tank Cleaning Automation

Image credit:

Chemdet Inc.