EZ Lift platforms from Bricking Solutions
Quick-to-assemble suspended platforms for improved safety and efficiency in vertical vessels
BRICKING Solutions, full-solution providers of refractory installation equipment, offer their quick-to-assemble EZ Lift suspended platforms for improved safety and efficiency during the servicing and re-lining of vertical vessels such as cyclones, lime kilns, pre-calciners etc.
Providing a safer and more productive alternative to the traditional methods used in vertical vessel applications, electric, manual or hydraulic hoists are used to move the EZ Lift suspended platform up and down inside the vessel at rates up to 11m/min (35ft/min).
‘Traditional vertical vessel re-lining and servicing involves scaffolding, crude platforms or, sometimes, people hanging off of ropes on bosun’s chairs, making it a slow and dangerous process,’ said Lars Lindgren, president of Bricking Solutions. ‘We developed the EZ Lift suspended platform to give our customers a tool they can use to improve safety and speed up their work.’
Bricking Solutions manufacture their modular platform structure using high-strength 6061-T6 aluminum, which provides the same strength as steel at a third of the weight. The structure is flexible, with the standard platform reconfigurable to four different sizes to fit vessels from 3.5m to 6.7m (11.5ft to 22ft) in diameter.
Crews can adjust the size of the platform by up to 1m while suspended by changing the outer panels, allowing for easy transition between different widths of a vessel. Bricking Solutions also offer custom-made outer panels to fit an individual vessel’s walls. Mechanical outriggers are used to manoeuvre and stabilize the platform, which has a load capacity of 2,722kg.
The platform, which is shipped on a custom pallet that can be carried by crane or forklift, consists of small modular pieces for easy assembly. Once maintenance is complete, each component can be disassembled and replaced on the pallet, in reverse order, ready for next use and convenient storage.
Each modular piece weighs 18kg or less and can fit through a 22in (560mm) diameter access hole. Pin connections improve platform strength over welded connections and allow for fast assembly. Whereas scaffolding can, in many cases, take up to a week to assemble, the EZ Lift suspended platform takes less than one day.
The platform is also configured with a removable centre disc and material hoist, allowing easy lifting of materials. The platforms come as standard with a non-slip Perf-O-Grip deck surface, safety fall guards and manual or mechanical outriggers that can be placed against walls or an inner pillar for stability.
