Tank Cleaner

About the sound

This tank cleaner is used to remove impurities and corrosion from the inside of storage tanks/reservoirs, eg a motorbike petrol tank. In this case it is TOMOS D3 motorbike tank during restoration process in Technical museum of Slovenia.
This device was made in-house and is composed of parts from different machines. It is driven by an electric motor taken from a SEVER washing machine (Subotica, Yugoslavia, 1991). Via belts and differential, power is transmitted to the frame structure composed of rectangular steel tubes which are capable of twisting and turning in all directions. The storage tank to be cleaned is fixed to the carrier plate and is then filled with granulated granite and a 75% solution of phosphoric acid. The machine causes this abrasive mixture to be tumbled about inside the tank and the cleaning time depends on the condition of the insides (app. 2 hours). Once the process is complete the tank has to be thoroughly washed with distilled water and then dried and adequately protected.
This machine is used in the restoration workshop of the Technical Museum of Slovenia.

Sound level: 78,6 dB

Sound recordist: Dušan Oblak
Photographer: Dušan Oblak