Maintenance

The maintenance information below was prepared for a floor used in a food plant operation and has the same general information and recommendations that are suggested for battery plant floors.

    Good housekeeping and regular washdowns, coupled with a regular program of visual inspection of ALL brick lined surfaces, can prevent a small maintenance issue from developing into a major floor system failure.

    We suggest a scheduled washdown of all floors weekly, followed by a thorough visual inspection for expansion joint integrity and general floor condition.  If corrosive liquids penetrate the membrane of an acid brick floor, the floor will appear to swell or bulge in the area of penetration, an indication that acid solutions are dissolving the underlying concrete.  Whitish corrosion products may also be seen in the area of attack.  These conditions require immediate corrective action to prevent the damage from spreading.

   The 4 main concerns regarding operations on acid brick floors are:

1. Cleaning / sanitizing chemical compatibility with the brick flooring system.

· The primary chemicals that will erode furan resin joint mortar are:

A. bleach or hypochlorite sanitizers.
B. nitric acid compounds.

· The primary chemicals that will erode the brick faces are:

A. fluoride containing compounds
B. strong, hot caustic solutions.

2. Thermal cycling in general or local areas.

· A floor primarily operated in 40° F conditions can experience thermal shock failure from intense exposure to continuous hot process streams discharged onto the floor or hot cleanup water flooding a formerly ambient section of flooring. Extreme temperature changes on the floor surface should be accomplished gradually to the greatest degree possible.

3. localized point overloads.

· Although extremely impact resistant, acid brick floors can by damaged by local point overloads. This condition is most likely to occur at:

A. doorways.
B. high traffic areas.
C. areas under frequently maintained heavy plant equipment.

4. expansion joint integrity.

· Expansion joints are known as the "necessary evil" of acid brick flooring systems. They typically follow cold seams in the underlying concrete subfloor to compensate for expected settling or movement. Since they must be able to absorb movement, they are neither as physically strong or chemically resistant as the adjacent floor brick. Since the cold pour seams are usually on high points, they are exposed to heavy physical abuse as well. Expansion joint failure is usually followed by brick edge spalling which proceeds away from the original damage with time.

The cause of damage to or failure of a section of brick flooring can usually be traced to one of the previously listed operational concerns. If you notice:

· erosion of sidejoint mortar:

1.attack by incompatible chemicals are usually involved.

A. If use of the incompatible chemical cannot be changed, there are usually other, more resistant repair materials available for the specific agent causing the erosion.

B. This is usually a localized phenomenon at areas of extreme exposure.

C. Specifically resistant repair materials may not have equivalent general corrosion or temperature resistance.

· erosion of brick faces:

1. attack by strong, hot caustics are usually involved.

A. Minor changes in temperature or concentration of the attacking solution will usually reduce brick face erosion. If erosion causes sanitary or safety concerns, affected floor areas may have to be replaced.

· hollow sounding floor areas:

1. adhesive bedjoint failure is usually involved.

A. Typically caused by excess thermal stresses, the involved areas must be torn out, prepared and replaced. If the condition causing the damage cannot be changed, more temperature resistant adhesives are available for use as repair materials.

· crushed and chipped brick:

1. localized point overloads are usually involved.

A. Since this is normally a localized problem, the mode of failure must be analyzed and remedied on a case-by-case basis.

· expansion joint failure:

1. chemical, thermal, or physical attack is usually involved.

A. The damaged joints, and sometimes the adjacent bricks, must be torn out, prepared, and replaced.

B. This damage may progress past the immediate expansion joint area, if not quickly repaired.

a. The brick adjacent to expansion joints are laid as stack bonded stretchers, to facilitate their replacement, if required.