“Shell has been working Qlayers and Van der Ende Steel Protectors in deploying the first industry-accepted and commercial available coating robot for storage tanks. Qlayers’ 10Q robot neatly fits our robotics roadmap since we believe that using robotics for inspection, maintenance and repair activities have the power to fundamentally improve our ways of working.

In April 2021, the 10Q robot was deployed for the first time at our Oil Import Terminal in Europoort. At Shell, as the first large asset owners to successfully deploy Qlayers’ technology commercially, we are proud to mark a next milestone in further improving safety and productivity in our operations. This achievement would not have been possible without the innovative power and entrepreneurial mindset from Qlayers.“

“Maasvlakte Olie Terminal as an organisation does have a strong focus on preservation of the environment and is always searching for improvements and good initiatives to prevent people and environment from being exposed to toxic wastes and extreme physical conditions. Coating process is currently done manually with rollers in man baskets. Painters are exposed to heavy physical work in difficult conditions working on heights painting 3x 5700 m2 by hand. An automated solution would therefore be beneficial for people and environment.

As one of the first in line, Maasvlakte Olie Terminal proposed to execute pilots with the coating robot at their premises initially on some smaller tanks. This was done in 2020. The pilot was reasonably successful despite the expected challenges working in the field. However development went on and several trails were carried out on other terminals before Qlayers returned to Maasvlakte Olie Terminal in 2021. They showed an impressive improvement compared to the previous year. The operating speed had increased and a minimum number of coating deficiencies were found.

The process was carefully followed up by some of the MOT shareholders as well to full satisfaction. The operating speed, environmental and physical advantages meeting the required quality standards will definitely play an important role in the decision making process regarding future coating applications on tanks at Maasvlakte Olie Terminal.”

“Braspenning coatings BV is a blasting and coatings company in the field of ship repair. We are active at various shipyards in Europe we blast and coat ships in the docks we have been doing this for more than 65 years. We tested Qlayers’ robot on the Hidden Gem on September 22. I think that the robot will provide solutions for the overspray problem in the longer term and that we can work greener, which will reduce paint and solvent consumption.
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Using the 10Q robot in the short term will be good to further develop the robot and at the same time show that we are working on solving the overspray and contamination problems. So it is clear that we are doing everything we can to work greener.”