TecEng Solutions offers robotic storage tank cleaning, inspections
Kevin S. Shipman (left), president of TecEng Solutions, is pictured following its annoucement that it will operate with offices out of the renovated lower floor of the Uniontown Country Club in South Union Township.
Brian W. Boyle, senior vice-president of TecEng Solutions, is pictured following the announcement that it will operate with offices out of the renovated lower floor of the Uniontown Country Club in South Union Township.
Roberto M. Esquivel | Herald-Standard
Officials of TecEng Solutions, from left, are Brian Boyle, senior vice president and partner; Kevin Shipman, president and partner; Steve Landreville; and Tom Bouchard, director of engineering.
TecEng Solutions launched new services in which the company’s remotely operated submarines can inspect and clean tanks used for water, fuel and chemical storage while they are full.
Company officials announced the new services at Uniontown County Club in South Union Township last week.
TecEng is operating out the renovated lower floor of the country club, said Brian W. Boyle, a company partner and senior vice president who also owns the country club.
“It’s going to give you a visual of your containment, corrosion and sedimentation,” Boyle said during a gathering for the launch.
The company has small, medium and large remotely operated robotic submarines to fit tanks of any size, but the small unit, which can fit into a 24-inch hatch, is the most popular, Boyle said.
During the launch event, he played a brief video recording of one of the units cleaning a 4-6-inch layer of sediment from the bottom of a water storage tank at nuclear power plant.
The cleaning machine is remotely navigated using an underwater camera while it extracts and discharges a sediment and sludge from tank floors. It has a power brush to dislodge sediment and a pump to remove it.
The crawling unit is designed to be used while tanks are full and in operation.
Inspection units use video to provide a visual profile of the inside of tanks while the tanks are full and in use. The units’ non-destructive testing measures the thickness and integrity of the metal in tanks and ship hulls.
Boyle said the submarines can be used in tanks at various facilities, including nuclear power plants, coal and gas burning power plants, municipal water plants, petroleum refineries and chemical companies.
Tom Bouchard, director of engineering, said the submarines can be re-engineered to meet customers’ needs. Attaching robotic arms are among the modifications.
The company plans to work with colleges and high schools to develop internship programs, Boyle said.
Internships would be available in in the electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, computer software and manufacturing fields, Bouchard said.
Since 2010, TecEng has been offering research consulting, sonar acoustic-based inspections and crude oil tank sonar inspections for federal and state governments, commercial and contract companies and nonprofit groups.