How to Paint a Cooling Tower
The challenges involved in painting a large commercial cooling tower stretch the abilities of many commercial painters. The keys to every successful paint project are surface preparation and proper coating application. In the case of a large exterior cooling tower, the process is complicated by the need to create a stable, and environmentally friendly work platform.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Commercial painting equipment, including high-capacity airless sprayer, spray hoses, and spray guns
- Commercial media blasting equipment and blasting media, such as sandblasting or soda blasting equipment
- Power-washing equipment
- High-volume, trailer mounted portable air supply
- Scaffolding, and/or bucket-lift truck
- polyvinyl tarps, and/or poly sheeting, and/or cloth paint tarps
- OSHA approved paint sprayed respirators
- Xylene based quick drying, rust inhibitive paint primer
- alkyd oil based paint finish coats
- paint solvents, clean rags, gloves
Instructions
-
Preparing for the Project
-
1
Determine the most economical and feasible approach to painting the cooling tower. Most painters prepare the surface, then apply primer to an entire project before applying finish coats. A large commercial cooling tower may involve building and taking down scaffolding in order to paint each side of the tower. In this case, the more economical way to complete each section of the tower is to completely prepare, prime and finish coat an area before moving the scaffold. This job requires extensive preparation before picking up a paintbrush.
-
2
Identify proper scaffolding to be used. Small to medium-size towers can be scaffolded from the ground up or painted from a bucket-lift truck. Applying paint to large industrial cooling towers may require using a suspended work platform, which is attached to the top of the tower and cantilevered down the sides via cables.
-
-
3
Identify the environmental conditions for the project. High wind areas will make painting a commercial tower very difficult. Atmospheric temperatures in the morning and evening should be taken into consideration. Verify that the temperatures remain within the manufacturer's recommendations for paint application and curing process.
-
4
Check with local environmental authorities. Identify if the painting process must be done inside a tented work area. Some coatings can be applied without tenting the work surface. These paints dry quickly and pose no risk to the surrounding environment. However other alkyd/petroleum-based products release hydrocarbons that must be contained within a tented boot during the application.
-
5
Build the scaffolding and tent the work area according to OSHA and environmental guidelines as needed prior to beginning the painting process.
Surface Preparation and Applying Primers
-
6
Remove all dirt, grime, and corrosion from the tower surface. Dirt and grime can be removed with a commercial power washer. The most effective way to remove corrosion is via sandblasting or soda blasting equipment.
-
7
Prime bare metal surfaces with quick drying, rust inhibitive, xylene-based primer. In most cases only the sanded / sandblasted areas must be primed. Apply quick-drying primer with commercial airless paint spray equipment, following the manufacturer's safety guidelines.
-
8
Allow primers to dry thoroughly before applying topcoat paint.
Applying Finish Coats
-
9
Select exterior finish coatings based on environmental conditions, the surface materials to be painted, and the type of existing coating on the cooling tower. Each paint product is produced to provide superior performance for specific conditions. Select paint products that match the surface conditions, tower materials and environment of this project.
-
10
Apply at least two finish coats of finish paint coatings to cooling tower during the painting process. Because of the labor-intensive nature of painting a commercial cooling tower, applying two coats during the painting process will create a much more successful project and be more economical to the project owner in the long run.
-
11
Allow paint coats to dry thoroughly in between applications. Paint that is improperly applied can fail prematurely, leaving the cooling tower exposed to the elements and risking corrosive damage.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
When performing an exterior industrial painting project, the most important aspects of the project are pre-planning and safety. By thinking through the entire project, the painting contractor can ensure the safety of his crew.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit industrial tank image by David Woods from Fotolia.com
