Case Study: Restoration of the MY Titanic

the force of nature
Restoration of the MY Titanic
HISTORICAL RESTORATION CASE STUDY
DRY ICE CLEANING RESTORES SHIP’S ENGINE ROOM TO
LIKE-NEW CONDITION IN FRACTION OF THE TIME
COMPANY
Louisiana CryoJet - New
Iberia, Louisiana
APPLICATION
Remove 40 years of dirt and
grime from the ship’s engine
room.
BENEFITS
By eliminating time that may have been spent in
breaking down machinery and on containment and
disposal of secondary waste, workers were able to clean
the engine room in a fraction of the time they would
have spent with conventional methods.
Safely cleans sensitive equipment without damaging it.
COLD JET SYSTEM
Aero Series
“THE DRY ICE WORKED GREAT ON THE ENGINES IN THIS TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT,” SAID THOMPSON.
“DRY ICE CLEANING IS THE PERFECT SOLUTION WHEN YOU HAVE SENSITIVE PARTS, ELECTRONICS AND WIRING
THAT WILL STAY IN PLACE THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT.”
THE SITUATION
The Motor Yacht Titanic was built in 1971 as a Japanese
Government research and fishing vessel. Formerly called
Kelso, it is 258 feet long and weighs 2,100 tons. This vessel
was recently purchased by a Hollywood movie producer who
is having the ship converted into his own private mega-yacht.
When completed, he plans to retire and live on the vessel,
taking it out to sea for a month at a time. The owner was
drawn to this ship because its hull is ice-rated, meaning it can
be safely sailed near the Arctic Ocean and Antarctic Sea. This
feature led him to retrofit the yacht, instead of purchasing
a new one. The ship is docked in Amelia, Louisiana until the
work is completed.
THE PROBLEM
As part of the restoration project, the Titanic’s engine room
and equipment is being rebuilt and repainted. The room will
ultimately be outfitted with stainless steel trim and backlit with
LED lighting, so that when completed, it will be as much of a
showpiece as the rest of the boat.
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“As far as I know, the engine room has never been cleaned
to this extent,” said Dustin Thompson, owner of Louisiana
CryoJet. “Forty years of grime and paint is being removed, right
down to bare metal.”
In the dark, tight quarters of the Titanic’s engine room are four
Niigata diesel engines, a Yanmar generator and a transmission.
Traditional cleaning methods such as sand blasting cannot be
used because of the worry that the sand could damage the
engines, which cost roughly $1 million each. Additionally, the
water systems for the ship are located in the engine room, and
those must be protected from sand or other debris. Often in
a case like this, the machinery is broken down to avoid getting
sand in the parts, but that is not possible due to the size of the
equipment. A hole would need to be cut in the side of the ship
to remove the engines, which is too time consuming, costly,
and runs the risk of damaging the equipment.
Soda blasting cannot be used due to the caustic nature of
soda, which poses a risk to the hydraulic and electrical hoses
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“The dry ice worked great on the engines in this type of
environment,” said Thompson. “Dry ice cleaning is the perfect
solution when you have sensitive parts, electronics and wiring
that will stay in place throughout the project.”
Louisiana CryoJet was able to easily get into the tight spaces of
the engine room using the Cold Jet equipment. They did not
need to use containment systems to protect the machinery,
adjoining electronics, hydraulic and water lines. And by not
having to use grinders or needle guns, they did in 30-days
what might have taken a year if cleaned by hand.
“By using dry ice cleaning compared to sand blasting, soda
blasting or hand grinding, we saved money that would have
been spent on man hours and down time on production,”
said Thompson. “We didn’t have the messy cleanup to deal
with that results when sand or soda becomes hazardous
waste, and we also avoided breaking down parts. The client
has seen the results of dry ice cleaning, and is very pleased.”
and electronics nearby. They could potentially be damaged by
this abrasive material.
Cleaning the parts by hand with grinders and needle guns is
another option, but would likely take a year, and the project
has a tight 30-day deadline.
THE SOLUTION
The ship’s owners contacted Louisiana CryoJet because they
were familiar with dry ice cleaning and thought it might be the
perfect solution for this application.
Cold Jet’s dry ice cleaning system uses non-abrasive media in
the form of recycled CO2 pellets that won’t damage surfaces
or equipment. The combination of dry ice cleaning’s kinetic
energy and thermal effects break the connection between the
dirt and surface, lifting away contaminants. Unlike blasting with
other media, dry ice cleaning does not leave any secondary
waste, because the dry ice particles sublimate upon impact
– converting from solid to gas. Dry ice cleaning is safe and
non-toxic, does not create downstream contamination, and
reduces or eliminates employee exposure to dangerous
chemical cleaning agents.
CS.2016.06.20
THE RESULTS
Using Cold Jet Aero 40 and Aero 80 systems, Louisiana
CryoJet’s four-man crew used 25,000 pounds (50 totes) of dry
ice to clean the engine room successfully on this 30-day job.
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www.coldjet.com
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