Protenergy Food Processing Plant – Renovations
Dry Ice Blasting and Coatings – Ceiling & ¼ Inch Urethane Slurry – Concrete Floor Topping
Cambridge, Maryland
Protenergy Company processes, packages, and private labels a wide variety of food products for large food companies and grocery chains. The plant is located in Cambridge, Maryland, and was originally established and operated as a seafood fry plant for decades prior to its acquisition. The plant renovations were significant, basically gutting all existing equipment and replacing it with an entirely new process and production equipment.
One of their first areas of concern was the existing brick floor layment, which had typical mortar joints. Mortar joints or any imperfections in a surface create a place for moisture to stand, increasing the likelihood of biological contaminants. Likewise, the new owners wanted to provide a safe, non-skid surface in order to prevent slips and/or falls by their personnel, especially during wash downs, wet floors.
Protenergy’s initial plan was to replace all the brick with concrete, then afterwards install a concrete topping. Pro Coat introduced a significant cost savings idea of leaving the bricks in place and installing the concrete topping directly over top of the brick surface. Sherwin Williams’ product, Fastop ¼ inch urethane slurry, can go directly onto brick, given that the proper surface prep process is implemented. This topping and process had been used and proven to be effective for 8 or 10 years prior, and was especially prevalent in brewery facilities.
Pro Coat thoroughly cleaned and degreased the existing brick substrate. After cleaning, we shot blasted the brick to provide an ICRI Level 3 profile. “Profile” is a degree of roughness that ensures maximum adhesion and forms a mechanical bond between the brick and the concrete topping. Sherwin Williams Tech services require shot blasting as the only acceptable surface prep when installing Fastop system.
Pro Coat used their Blast Pro shot blaster along with the Blast Pro Hepa Filter dust collection system. We blasted across the entire brick surface, providing the surface profile specified.
After floor prep was completed, Pro Coat applied the base urethane slurry system. The first step is laying out all materials, opening all containers as well as creating a mixing station. Once application starts, it must be completed in one pass; no stopping. Planning layout and logistics is an important step in preparation. We first mix the 3 components, 2 liquids and one bag of aggregate, into a 5-gallon bucket. Buckets are delivered and applied in a “ribbon” directly to the floor.
Our floor techs use a “cam rake” to screed the “slurry” material down to an exact depth of ¼ inch. Immediately after the material is applied, it is back rolled using a loop roller, and then an aluminum oxide aggregate is broadcast directly into the top of the urethane surface. Aluminum oxide is one of the strongest aggregates used in the flooring industry, which provides an excellent non-skid surface as well as durability, helping the floor to outlast those that are installed with sand or other lower quality aggregates.