Large refineries and petrochemical companies hold heavy oils, as crude oil, in large tanks. With time, heavy sediments accumulate at the bottom of the tanks, partially obstructing the tank & preventing its proper and economical operation. Maintenance teams must shut down operations & clean the sediments. They also perform routine maintenance, e.g., welding, that requires a gas-free state within the tank.

Cleaning such tanks requires a massive workforce & long shut-down periods of the tank, up to several months. Furthermore, petrochemical companies do not accept sediments for re-use. Regulations classify these sediments as hazardous waste which requires disposal in special depositories. All this makes tank cleaning a costly operation.

Petroneft non-entry engineering solutions private limited has robotic arms with high-pressure pumps for removal of deposited sludge in the tank and a mobile physio-chemical treatment system to recover oil, recycle water and obtain dry cake with oil content less than 10%. Our systems are designed for the No Man Entry cleaning concept. Petroneft “MINI” robots are used for the final cleaning stage of the tanks.