The problem with manual tear-out
Refractory lining is hard, it’s inside a confined vessel, and it’s hot for a long time after the plant stops. A manual crew can’t enter until the vessel has cooled to a safe temperature, and once inside they’re in a confined space with heat stress, dust and falling brick to manage. Output per person is limited by all three, and rotation and rest breaks eat the shift.
What a robot changes
Earlier start
The machine tolerates conditions a person can’t. Working within the site’s cooling and entry procedures, a demolition robot can typically go into the vessel earlier than a crew could, which pulls the whole reline forward.
Faster removal
A hydraulic breaker on a three-section arm strips brick and castable far faster than hand tools, and it does it continuously. The arm reaches the crown, the walls and the floor from one set-up, and the machine tracks along the vessel as it goes.
Nobody inside
The operator runs the machine from outside the vessel or from a safe position at the access. That removes the confined-space entry for the tear-out phase, with everything that means for permits, standby, rescue plans and fatigue management.
Continuous operation
Shutdowns run around the clock, and so does the robot. With rotating operators the machine works through the window; the only stops are for tool changes and clearing debris.
Where it’s used
- Rotary kilns in cement and lime — brick and castable lining along the length of the kiln, plus the nose ring and burner zone.
- Calciners, preheaters and cyclones — castable removal in tight, vertical spaces.
- Furnaces and ladles in steel and non-ferrous plants — working lining and safety lining stripped back to shell.
- Boilers and ash hoppers at power stations — refractory and concrete in the combustion zone and ash systems.
- Silos, bins and hoppers — hardened product build-up and damaged lining removed without a person inside.
Getting the machine in
The robot enters through the normal access door or manway where it fits; our smaller machines pass through openings sized for people. Where the reline plan allows, a temporary opening in the shell gives a larger machine access. Inside, the outriggers plant on a curved or sloped floor, and debris is pushed toward the discharge or a chute for removal. The site’s pre-shutdown planning should confirm the access, the machine size and the power supply well before the outage.
Planning a robot into the shutdown
- Pre-shutdown site visit. Access openings, power, the debris route and the sequence of the reline are confirmed on site, not on the day.
- Inductions and permits. Site inductions, mining inductions where applicable, and the permit-to-work system are completed before mobilisation.
- Machine and attachments. Matched to the vessel: machine size to the access, breaker size to the lining, plus a bucket or grapple for clearing.
- Crew and roster. Rotating operators for 24-hour coverage across the tear-out window.
- Integration with the reline. Handover points agreed with the refractory installer so the bricklayers follow straight behind the tear-out.
- Debris handling. Chutes, bins or conveyors sized to the tonnage coming out, so the robot never waits for the floor to clear.
Beyond the vessel
The same machine handles the concrete work that clusters around a shutdown: plinths and machine bases for equipment being replaced, chute and hopper concrete, foundation modifications and slab breakouts inside the plant. Packaging that work into the same mobilisation is efficient and keeps one specialist crew on site for the whole outage.
Planning a shutdown in Gladstone, the Bowen Basin, Townsville, Mount Isa or anywhere in Queensland? See our industrial and refractory demolition service and our regional and mining page, or get in touch with the outage dates and we’ll start planning with you.