Improving the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by high pressure water jetting method at vivablast (vietnam) co , ltd

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION
FACULTY FOR HIGH QUALITY TRAINING

THESIS

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF CLEANING THE
SURFACE OF THE SHIELD BY HIGH-PRESSURE
WATER JETTING METHOD AT VIVABLAST
(VIETNAM) CO., LTD.

Student’s name : PHAM NGOC DUY.
Student ID

: 17146012.

Major

: INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT.

Advisor

: NGUYEN THI MAI TRAM, ME.

Ho Chi Minh City, October 2022.


COMMENTS OF ADVISOR
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HCM city, day … month … year 2022.
Advisor

Nguyen Thi Mai Tram.

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COMMENTS OF REVIEWER
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HCM city, day … month … year 2022.
Reviewer

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dear:
Board of Management of Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
Mrs.Nguyễn Thị Mai Trâm – Lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
and Education.
My name is Pham Ngoc Duy (student ID: 17146012) - a graduate thesis student in the
first semester of the academic year 2022-2023.
First of all, allow me to thank Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. for allowing me to practice
and complete my graduation thesis this semester with the topic: Improving the quality
of cleaning the surface of the shield by high-pressure water jetting method at Vivablast

(vietnam) Co., Ltd.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Tram - my direct
advisor for this graduation thesis. In more than two and a half months of working on my
graduation thesis, I have been guided in detail about the outline, presentation, and
detailed content suggestions for this topic. Thanks to her dedicated help, I can not only
complete my graduation thesis better but also have a better overview of the topic I am
writing about. That helps to lay the foundation for building and defending this thesis
before the committee.
In the end, although I have tried to do this graduation thesis as best as possible, I will
inevitably make mistakes. I hope that Vivablast company, Mrs.Tram, and readers
understand. Above all, I would be happy to receive further feedback from Vivablast,
Ms. Tram, and readers to improve this report.
Sincerely Thanks and Best regards.
HCM city, day … month … year 2022.
Student
Pham Ngoc Duy.

III


LIST OF ABBREVIATION
Abbreviation

Explanation

AHP

Analytic Hierarchy Process

FDI

Foreign Direct Investment

ISO

International Organization for Standardization

NACE

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International

OEE

Overall Equipment Effectiveness

PPE

Personal Protective Equipment

QCVN

National technical regulation

40:2011/BTNMT

on industrial wastewater (vietnam)

QMS

Quality Management System

TBM

Total Productive Maintenance

TNHH

Vietnamese: Trách Nhiệm Hữu Hạn / English: Company
Limited

TPM

Tool Box Meeting

UHP

Ultra High Pressure

WJ-1

Water Jetting level 1

WJ-2

Water Jetting level 2

WJ-3

Water Jetting level 3

WJ-4

Water Jetting level 4

IV


LIST OF TABLE
Table 2. 1 Quality standards for cleaning the surface of the shields. ............................ 15
Table 2. 2 Traditional AHP pairwise comparison matrix. ............................................18
Table 2. 3 Normalised Pairwise Comparison Matrix. ................................................... 18
Table 2. 4 The random index corresponds to the number of selection criteria considered.
.......................................................................................................................................19

Table 3. 1 Popular types of water jetting machines on the Vietnamese market. ..........26
Table 3. 2 Criteria for evaluating the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield. .....37
Table 3. 3 Alternatives affecting the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield. ......37
Table 3. 4 Pairwise Comparison Matrix of criteria. ...................................................... 39
Table 3. 5 Normalised Pairwise Comparison Matrix of criteria. ..................................39
Table 3. 6 Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to Surface Roughness.
.......................................................................................................................................40
Table 3. 7 Normalised Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to Surface
Roughness. ..................................................................................................................... 41
Table 3. 8 Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to Initial Condition of
the Surface. .................................................................................................................... 42
Table 3. 9 Normalised Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to Initial
Condition of the surface. ............................................................................................... 42
Table 3. 10 Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to Degrees of
Cleaning. ........................................................................................................................ 43
Table 3. 11 Normalised Pairwise Comparison Matrix of alternatives according to

Degrees of Cleaning. .....................................................................................................44
Table 3. 12 Alternative Weights of criterion. ................................................................ 45
Table 3. 13 Criteria Weights. ........................................................................................ 45
Table 3. 14 Alternative Score. ....................................................................................... 46

Table 4. 1 Reference table of risk levels. ......................................................................47
Table 4. 2 Hierarchy of control over the secure implementation. .................................49
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Table 4. 3 Compare the investment cost and risk cost of rotating shifts solution. ........50
Table 4. 4 Compare the investment cost and risk cost of equipping headphones solution.
.......................................................................................................................................52
Table 4. 5 Levels of roughness according to quality standards for cleaning the surface
of the shield. ..................................................................................................................62
Table 4. 6 Some suggested hand symbols. ....................................................................63
Table 4. 7 Cost effectiveness of the solution 3. ............................................................. 68

VI


LIST OF FIGURE
Figure 1. 1 Logo of Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. ......................................................... 5
Figure 1. 2 The organizational structure of Vivablast Co., Ltd.......................................7
Figure 1. 3 High-pressure water jetting process and final product at First Solar's
production department. ....................................................................................................9

Figure 2. 1 The internal steel structure is broken during traditional hand drilling. ......11
Figure 2. 2 The internal steel structure is preserved when performing high-pressure
water jetting. ..................................................................................................................11

Figure 2. 3 The high-pressure water jetting system. ..................................................... 12
Figure 2. 4 Cleaning quality of Class C surfaces at each level. ....................................15
Figure 2. 5 General structure of the hierarchy. .............................................................. 17

Figure 3. 1 Fishbone diagram of the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield. ......21
Figure 3. 2 A rusted surface after UHP cleaning (left) compared with standard surface
water jetting type WJ1 (right)........................................................................................ 22
Figure 3. 3 Certificate of Hughes' high-pressure water jetting technique. .................... 23
Figure 3. 4 A basic theoretical training class on water jetting techniques at Vivablast
training center – Binh Chieu construction site. ............................................................. 24
Figure 3. 5 Occupational safety card of a water-jetting technician. .............................. 24
Figure 3. 6 Vivablast’s high-pressure water jetting machine. .......................................25
Figure 3. 7 Some accessories come with the high-pressure water jetting machine. .....25
Figure 3. 8 Position of the nozzle on the gun and its rotation amplitude. ..................... 27
Figure 3. 9 A water jetting machine and its accessories are being transported to another
site. .................................................................................................................................27
Figure 3. 10 Standard performance posture. .................................................................28
Figure 3. 11 A TBM (Tool Box Meeting) at the beginning of a shift. .......................... 29
Figure 3. 12 Some risks of occupational accidents during high-pressure water jetting.
.......................................................................................................................................30
Figure 3. 13 Limited area of high-pressure water jetting at Binh Chieu construction site.
VII


.......................................................................................................................................31
Figure 3. 14 A Standard Personal Protective Equipment model when performing highpressure water jetting. ....................................................................................................31
Figure 3. 15 Safety information boards in the high-pressure water jetting area. ..........32
Figure 3. 16 Emergency first aid supplies and fire extinguishers in the high-pressure
water jetting area. ..........................................................................................................32
Figure 3. 17 Two waste water tanks at Binh Chieu construction site. .......................... 33

Figure 3. 18 Process of mixing abrasive particles into the high-pressure water stream.
.......................................................................................................................................34
Figure 3. 19 The surface of the shield (level WJ2) is scratched by large abrasive
particles. ......................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 3. 20 Cost structure of a typical high-pressure water jetting system. ................35
Figure 3. 21 The AHP hierarchical structure for the quality of cleaning the surface of
the shield. ....................................................................................................................... 38

Figure 4. 1 Hearos 5826 Xtreme Protection Series UF Foam Ear Plugs (NRR 33). ....48
Figure 4. 2 Peltor Sport Tactical 100 Electronic Hearing Protector, Ear Protection, NRR
22 dB.............................................................................................................................. 48
Figure 4. 3 Maintenance workers are repairing a high-pressure water jetting machine at
the Binh Chieu construction site.................................................................................... 65

VIII


TABLE OF CONTENT
COMMENTS OF ADVISOR ....................................................................................... I
COMMENTS OF REVIEWER .................................................................................. II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ III
LIST OF ABBREVIATION ...................................................................................... IV
LIST OF TABLE .......................................................................................................... V
LIST OF FIGURE ..................................................................................................... VII
TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................. IX
INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT .......................................................................1
1. Rationale: .................................................................................................................1
2. Objectives:................................................................................................................2
3. Scope and object: .....................................................................................................2
4. Research methodology: ............................................................................................ 3

4.1 Data collection: ...................................................................................................3
4.2 Data analysis: ......................................................................................................4
5. Structure of thesis:....................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO VIVABLAST (VIETNAM). ......................... 5
1.1 Introduction to Vivablast company - History of formation and development: ......5
1.2 Business sector activities and markets of Vivablast company: ............................. 5
1.3 Vivablast organizational structure: ........................................................................6
1.4 Vivablast's business performance in recent years: .................................................7
1.5 Vivablast development orientation: .......................................................................8
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. .................................................................10
2.1 Introduction to cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting method: ...........10
2.1.1 Purpose of cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting method: ............10

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2.1.2 The stages of the process of cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting
method: ................................................................................................................... 12
2.2 The quality of the cleaning shield: .......................................................................13
2.2.1 The concept of quality: ..................................................................................13
2.2.2 The quality of the cleaning shield:.................................................................14
2.3 The fishbone diagram:.......................................................................................... 16
2.4 The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method: .................................................16
2.4.1 Method introduction: ..................................................................................... 16
2.4.2 Steps of AHP method: ................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER 3: REALITY OF THE QUALITY OF CLEANING THE SURFACE
OF THE SHIELD BY HIGH-PRESSURE WATER JETTING METHOD AT
VIVABLAST (VIETNAM) CO., LTD. .....................................................................21
3.1 The influence of human factors on the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield:
....................................................................................................................................21

3.2 The influence of mechanical factors on the quality of cleaning the surface of the
shield: ......................................................................................................................... 24
3.3 The influence of methodological factors on the quality of cleaning the surface of
the shield: ................................................................................................................... 27
3.4 The influence of material factors on the quality of cleaning the surface of the
shield: ......................................................................................................................... 32
3.5 The influence of financial factors on the quality of cleaning the surface of the
shield: ......................................................................................................................... 35
3.6 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for the quality of cleaning the surface of the
shield: ......................................................................................................................... 36
CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF CLEANING
THE SURFACE OF THE SHIELD BY HIGH-PRESSURE WATER JETTING
METHOD AT VIVABLAST (VIETNAM) CO., LTD. ............................................47

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4.1 Solution 1: Improving safety procedure: ............................................................. 47
4.1.1 Content of solution 1: .................................................................................... 47
4.1.2 Comment on solution 1:.................................................................................48
4.2 Solution 2: Completing the method of cleaning the shield according to ISO
9001:2015:..................................................................................................................52
4.2.1 The basis of the solution: ...............................................................................52
4.2.2 Content of solution 2: .................................................................................... 61
4.2.3 Comment on solution 2:.................................................................................64
4.3 Solution 3: Improving equipment maintenance method: .....................................64
4.3.1 Content of solution 3: .................................................................................... 64
4.3.2 Comment on solution 3:.................................................................................66
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................69
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................70

APPENDIX................................................................................................................... 73

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INTRODUCTION TO THE REPORT
1. Rationale:
Today, with the economy on a strong development momentum, Vietnam is
likened to a large factory in Southeast Asia. According to the General Statistics Office
team (2022), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Vietnam in the first three months of
2022 is expected to reach US $4.42 billion, up 7.8% over the same period last year. In
particular, foreign direct investment in the manufacturing industry reached 2.8 billion
USD, accounting for 68.6% of newly and additionally registered capital. The above data
partly shows that the manufacturing industry in Vietnam will have a lot of potential for
development in the future, and the number of machines and equipment for production
needs will be more. Besides, the need for maintenance of machinery and equipment
(especially with metal structures) under the influence of temperature, humidity, and light
is also higher than before. One of the solutions for the above is to implement anticorrosion measures directly on the surface of the equipment. In addition, Vietnam has a
tropical monsoon and hot and humid environment, where the air contains a high
concentration of Cl ions, the average humidity is over 70%, the temperature variation
between day and night is high, and ultraviolet radiation is high (at a very high level
(above 7)), strong winds and annual tropical storms hit the 3,260 km coastline. All of
the above factors turn Vietnam into a place with a harsh climate environment and make
general manufacturing materials (metal, concrete, etc.) surface stains, metal corrosion,
temperature cracks, thermal radiation breaking chemical bonds in material structures,
etc. Therefore, the need for anti-corrosion in Vietnam is higher than in other regions and
becomes more urgent than ever.
Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd is one of the leading units in Vietnam in the field
of anti-corrosion. Vivablast offers anti-corrosion services according to international
standards and tailored to the specific needs of the customer. With 25 years of experience

in this field, Vivablast has implemented 10 different anti-corrosion solutions such as
wrapping protection, passive fire protection, surface preparation, chemical cleaning,
water proofing solutions, thermal spray coatings, protective and marine coating, highpressure water jetting, CO2 dry ice cleaning, industrial flooring system. In particular,
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the solution of cleaning shields by the high-pressure water jetting method is the most
commonly used.
During the study of the current state of the high-pressure water jetting process at
Vivablast, three issues need to be considered. Firstly, the implementation of
occupational safety is not good. Secondly, the maintenance of the water jetting machine
is not consistent with the actual requirements. Thirdly, there is no consensus on quality
standards and quality inspection procedures.
With all the above reasons plus the actual time having access to the high-pressure
water jetting process at the company, I chose the topic Improving the quality of cleaning
the surface of the shield by high-pressure water jetting method at Vivablast (Vietnam)
Co., Ltd to do the graduation thesis report in the first semester of this academic year
2022-2023.
2. Objectives:
Analyzing the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by high-pressure water jetting
method at Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. Detail:
Analysis of factors affecting the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield.
Of the factors just analyzed above, find out which factors that affect the quality
of cleaning the surface of the shield the most.
Proposing solutions to improve the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by highpressure water jetting method at Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. Detail:
Propose solutions for the factors that have the most influence on the quality of
cleaning the surface of the shield.
Each solution needs to be proven effective in practice by solution cost, expected
results, implementation time, etc.
3. Scope and object:

Research object: The quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by highpressure water jetting method at Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
Space: The main research topic is at Binh Chieu construction site - Vivablast
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(Vietnam) Co., Ltd., address: Lot B1, Road No. 2, Binh Chieu, Thu Duc city; and some
other construction sites such as: Vung Tau, Ca Mau, Ben Tre, Quang Nam.
Time: Data is provided for the last 3 years of Vivablast company (2020, 2021,
and 2022).
4. Research methodology:
4.1 Data collection:
Primary data is mainly collected from a survey named Survey table of priority of
factors affecting the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield in Vivablast. In order
to collect primary data for analysis, the author creates that survey form on Google form
and sends it to experts. This survey consists of four main parts: introduction, filter part,
main part, and other information (Refer to appendix B). In addition, the author also
interviewed some relevant experts to consolidate the primary data.
Secondary data is collected from:
General Statistics Office of Vietnam: used to get the data for the
Introduction to the report.
Specialized documents on the method of high-pressure water jetting:
These documents are mainly used for the analysis of the quality of cleaning
shields in chapter 3. They are also used as a reference for chapters 2 and 4. For
example, document Jetstream (2015) is used to describe the construction of a
water jetting machine or document Joint Surface Preparation Standard (2017) is
the most popular document used for the NACE certification exam (the author
used it as a reference for the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by highpressure water jetting method).
Internal documents of Vivablast company: The most frequently used
internal document in this thesis is the Method Statement: Shields cleaning by Bui
Anh Quoc. Along with internal documents of some other departments.

A number of other related documents are listed in detail in the references
section. It is necessary to mention The Analytical Hierarchy Process by Saaty
(1980) - which is the theoretical basis for applying the AHP method in

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determining which factors have the most influence on the quality of cleaning the
surface of the shield by high-pressure water jetting method.
4.2 Data analysis:
As mentioned above, the data after being obtained from the expert will be
preliminarily processed and then used the AHP method for calculation. This is not a new
method, but it is effective in ranking the importance of factors. Especially in this thesis,
the number of selection criteria and options is small, so it is easy to build the matrix and
calculate the consistency. In this thesis, the author uses the AHP tool through 8 steps of
analysis including:
Step 1: Define criteria and alternatives.
Step 2: Building the AHP hierarchical structure.
Step 3: Survey and collect expert opinions in the company about the priority of
the above factors.
Step 4: Design the Pairwise Comparison Matrix of criteria.
Step 5: Calculate the weights.
Step 6: Check the consistency.
Step 7: Repeat steps 3, 4, 5, and 6 with alternatives according to each criterion.
Step 8: Summarize the result.
5. Structure of thesis:
In addition to the introduction to the report, comments of the advisor, comments
of reviewer, acknowledgements, list of abbreviation, list of table, list of figure, table of
content, conclusion, references and appendix, the main content of the thesis consists of
4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction to Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
Chapter 2: Literature review.
Chapter 3: Reality of the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield by highpressure water jetting method at Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
Chapter 4: Solutions to improve the quality of cleaning the surface of the shield
by high-pressure water jetting method at Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO VIVABLAST (VIETNAM).
1.1 Introduction to Vivablast company - History of formation and development:

Figure 1. 1 Logo of Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd.
Source: The Vivablast team (2019).
Vivablast (Vietnam) Co., Ltd was founded in 1994 with 100% foreign capital.
Over the past 20 years, Vivablast has become a reliable partner in providing industrial
asset protection services to clients such as PIRIOU, JGCS, Technip, KNOC, Metacor,
PTSC Group, Vietsovpetro, etc. In particular, Vivablast uses an innovative system of
mobile blasting and painting to serve large projects such as Vietnam’s first refinery
project – Dung Quat followed by Vung Ang Power Plant project, and the biggest Oil &
Gas complex in Vietnam – Nghi Son Refinery. In 2014, Vivablast expanded its business
to Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia.
Other informations:
Address: Lot B1, Road No. 2, Binh Chieu, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.
Email:
Website: />Phones: (+84-28) 38 965 006 or (+84-28) 38 965 007/8.
1.2 Business sector activities and markets of Vivablast company:
Basically, Vivablast's main business sector activity is industrial assets protection
services. Specifically, Vivablast provides solutions such as Access Solution, Protection
Solution, Anti-Corrosion Solution, Insulation Solution, Fabrication Solution, and

Mechanical Solution. In addition, Vivablast is also the exclusive material distributor of
Belzona (the world's leading polymer material manufacturer) in Vietnam.
Currently, Vivablast's main market is still in Vietnam. In addition, the company
also provides the above service packages to other countries in Southeast Asia such as
Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar.
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1.3 Vivablast organizational structure:
Regarding the personnel structure, the BOM (Board of Managers) consists of 5
members:
Mr. Jacques Vivarès – President of the Company.
Mr. Boris Vivarès – Commercial and Business Development Director.
Shanthamani Muthukumar – Director of Vivablast Vietnam.
Dang Xuan Dieu – Commercial Manager.
Tran Thi Cam Tu – Financial Manager.
The company is organized into 9 departments in charge of different functions and
tasks. The commercial department is responsible for bringing projects to the company
and building relationships with partners. The estimation department is responsible for
calculating the number of materials needed for the project and reporting to the
purchasing department. The operation department is responsible for coordinating
personnel and projects. The QA/QC department is responsible for the quality of the
project according to the agreed requirements between Vivablast and customers. The
HSE department is responsible for ensuring labor safety and waste treatment in projects.
The maintenance department is responsible for planning maintenance and performing
repairs to the company's machinery. The ADM/HR department is responsible for
personnel management, recruitment, and dispatch of workers according to the
requirements of the operation department. The accounting department is under the direct
management of Mrs. Tu in terms of staff salaries, project costs, etc. The purchasing
department is also under the direct management of Mrs. Tu and is responsible for

planning purchase materials after receiving the quotation from the accounting
department. In addition, the purchasing department is also responsible for the import
and export of goods to other countries.
In addition, according to the data of the human resources department, the whole
company has a total of 465 employees. In more detail, the company has 35 management
personnel and 370 technicians and operators.

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Figure 1. 2 The organizational structure of Vivablast Co., Ltd.
Source: The Vivablast team (2019).
1.4 Vivablast's business performance in recent years:
With more than 20 years of experience in the field of industrial asset protection
services, in the past 5 years (from 2018 to 2022), Vivablast has continued to use those
valuable experiences to implement many projects in the oil and gas industry,
manufacturing industry, shipbuilding industry, thermal power industry, and renewable
electricity industry. As follows:
Oil & Gas Industry: Vivablast provides Refinery Construction and
Maintenance, Offshore Platform Cleaning Work, Flare Bloom and Platform
Construction, and Structure Repair. Some typical projects can be mentioned, such
as the Aluminum insulation paint project in Thailand (2019-2020), the offshore
drilling rig cleaning project in Vietnam (2020), etc.
Manufacturing

industry:

Vivablast

provides

services

for

large

construction projects. These can be mentioned as Blasting & Protective Coating
7


(Shop & Field), Thermal Spray Coating, Passive Fire Proofing, Spray-on
Insulation, Industrial Flooring Systems, Waterproofing, and Flexible &
Conventional Insulation. Some typical projects can be mentioned, such as the
Port equipment maintenance project in Vietnam (2018-2020), the fertilizer plant
maintenance project (2018-2019), etc.
Shipbuilding: Vivablast is known as the number one contractor in the field
of marine corrosion protection for small and medium-sized ships over 6,000T
that use services such as HP/UHP water jetting, Hulls Anti-Corrosion and AntiFouling Protection, floor coating, Tank Internal Lining, Thermal Spray Coating,
etc. Some typical projects can be mentioned, such as Trawler Ship project (2018),
Deck and 94m Catamaran project, etc.
Power Generation: In this industry, Vivablast provides several services
such as Cooling Water Piping Lining, Tank Lining, Ceramic Coating
Refurbishment, Heat Exchanger Cleaning, etc. Two typical projects in this
industry that Vivablast did are Power Plant Maintenance Project, and Power Plant
Construction Project.
1.5 Vivablast development orientation:
From 2014 until now, Vivablast has made strategic changes when expanding its
business to Thailand, Myanmar, and Malaysia with the main areas of wind and solar
power, also known collectively as renewable electricity. With available methods and

experiences for more than 20 years, Vivablast is implementing a series of main projects
today, such as the blade repair project in Thailand wind farm (2022), the rooftop solar
panel installation project (2022), the project of supplying and installing solar panels at
a dragon fruit farm in Vietnam (2021-2023).
In wind power projects, Vivablast uses the Rope Access Method and Blade
Access Platform to access the turbine blades. When approaching turbine blades, workers
will perform blade maintenance (usually using anti-corrosion paint). With some key
projects such as in Taiwan and Thailand, Vivablast also uses specialized drones to
survey the entire wind farm.
In the solar industry, Vivablast provides maintenance and cleaning services for
8


solar panels. In addition, Vivablast also provides shield cleaning services to First Solar
customers. In particular, the high-pressure water jetting is an extremely important step
when implementing this project. These shields, after being cleaned, will be the main
supporting parts in First Solar's solar cell production. It is also noticeable that the current
high-pressure water jet cleaning process is also one of Vivablast's pioneering service
solutions for further breakthrough developments in the renewable electricity industry in
the future.

Figure 1. 3 High-pressure water jetting process and final product at First Solar's
production department.
Source: Muthukumar (2019).

9


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
2.1 Introduction to cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting method:

2.1.1 Purpose of cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting method:
The high-pressure water jetting method was known as a traditional surface
cleaning method of Vivablast for over 20 years. According to the Vivablast team (2019),
this method uses two types of high pressure (10,000 PSI) and ultra-high pressure (36,500
PSI) to remove rust, varnish, drill mud on the surface of the shield depending on the
customer's requirements (refer to item protection solutions – HP/UHP Jetting). More
specifically, Vivablast now uses high-pressure water jetting to clean the surfaces of ship
hulls, voids, ballast tanks, loading ramps, pilings; concrete cutting and surface
preparation; rust removal, oil painting, drilling mud in pipe yards; Clean surfaces in gas
plants, pressurized water pipes, lead coatings. To see the advantage of the high-pressure
water jetting method over other traditional cleaning methods, Figures 2.1 and 2.2 will
show the difference. According to Conjet (2021), breaking the concrete layer by the
traditional hand drilling method has a very high probability of breaking the structure of
the steel inside. On the opposite, the high-pressure water jetting method not only does
not break this steel structure layer but also gives greater efficiency and safety for
workers. On the one hand, the method of high-pressure water splashing proves to be less
harmful to the working environment. On the other hand, it helps workers - who are in
direct contact with the source of vibrations to avoid Hand-arm vibration (Rebecca &
Elizabeth, 2005).

10


Figure 2. 1 The internal steel structure is broken during traditional hand drilling.
Source: Conjet (2021).

Figure 2. 2 The internal steel structure is preserved when performing high-pressure
water jetting.
Source: Conjet (2021).
According to the Jetstream team (2015), the high-pressure water jetting system

is normally divided into two main parts: the water pump and the water gun (Figure 2.3).
In addition, the system has several important accessories such as a high-pressure hose,
pressure regulating valve, safety valve, nozzle (Straight, forward, reverse nozzle),
flexible lance, foot valve, and rigid lance. Regarding the operating principle of the
system, a high-pressure motor will take water from a low-pressure place and pump it
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through a one-way valve system to increase water pressure and direct it to the worker's
gun. When the user pulls the trigger, the water will be shot out into the jet by the highpressure nozzle. When the user releases the trigger, the water will return to the old water
area.

Figure 2. 3 The high-pressure water jetting system.
Source: The Jetstream team (2015).
2.1.2 The stages of the process of cleaning shields by high-pressure water jetting
method:
According to Quoc (2021), the process of cleaning shields by high-pressure water
jetting method goes through 4 stages:
Stage 1 (Preparation): The main task in this stage is preparing the basic
requirements before performing the main stage. Among them, the surface
preparation work is the most important. A correct determination of the initial
condition of the shield's surface combined with the customer's requirement will
result in a suitable surface standard for high-pressure water jetting (Refer to
section 2.2 – The quality of cleaning the surface of the shield). In addition, some
other preparation work is equally important, such as determining the number of
shields delivered by the customer; determining the number of abrasive particles,
the amount of packaging, and machine oil; preparing a water jetting machine, a
packing machine, a heat gun, and some other supporting tools.
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Stage 2 (High-pressure water jetting): This is the most important stage of
the whole process. This stage was introduced in section 2.1.1.
Stage 3 (Heating): This is the treatment process after high-pressure water
jetting is done. Workers use a heat gun to provide heat in the form of a stream of
air with a temperature of up to 600 degrees Celsius directly on the surface of the
shield to evaporate the remaining water stains.
Stage 4 (Packing): The final stage of the high-pressure water jetting
process uses a vacuum machine to pack the entire shields. In addition to the
aesthetics of the product when delivered to the customer, the purpose of the
packaging is to prevent the air from coming into direct contact with the surface
after the water jetting, because the air will quickly oxidize the surface of the
shields.
2.2 The quality of the cleaning shield:
2.2.1 The concept of quality:
There are many different concepts of quality in the world. With different fields
and different purposes, the perspective on quality is also different. But there is only one
internationally accepted definition, that of the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO). According to Hoyle (2015), clause 3.6.2 states that: Quality
degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of an object fulfills requirement. Where:
Characteristics: Can be physical (mechanical, electrical, chemical, or
biological characteristics); sensory (related to smell, touch, taste, sight, hearing);
behavioral (courtesy, honesty, veracity); temporal (punctuality, reliability,
availability, continuity); ergonomic (physiological characteristic, or related to
human safety); functional (maximum speed of an aircraft).
Objects can be material (an engine, a sheet of paper, a diamond), nonmaterial (conversion ratio, a project plan), or imagined (the future state of the
organization).
Requirements can be need or expectation that is stated, generally implied,
or obligatory.

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