Wolftank successfully operates in African markets through strong partners

Wolftank industrial coatings have been used on the African continent for many years thanks to a strong network of distribution partners. In countries such as Morocco, Nigeria, Egypt and many others in the South, Wolftank solutions are often in demand by both major energy companies and local retailers.

Wolftank, a global partner

Wolftank provides its industrial coating technologies and services all around the world. The company has offices in more than six countries and operates globally also thanks to a strong network of partners. 

In the case of the African continent, many companies have already applied Wolftank’s coating solutions and have been successfully operating in the market for years.

The African market and Wolftank

The latest projects implemented in Africa demonstrated how these markets rely on quality tank refurbishment instead of installing new ones. The lower costs, as well as the hight-quality of the repaired facilities, provide the customer with a sustainable solution that is hard to refuse.

But what are the particularities of the African market and how does Wolftank operate there? Africa's economies and its energy sector are developing to a large extent. Especially the coverage of retail service stations on the continent shows a trend of increasing density along with the growth of local mobility.

In addition, there is another important factor that places Wolftank at the centre of the market. Avoiding environmental pollution and loss of expensive fuel is a growing issue on the African continent. In this respect, the refurbishment of tanks, as well as the environmental services that Wolftank also provides, makes it possible to correct and prevent any kind of pollution. Therefore, customers feel more secure in this regard as well.

Some of the Wolftank’s latest projects in Africa

The latest projects in the continent show how Wolftank is completely established in many places through its local partners. They provide a complete service ensuring that the Wolftank technologies are always applied according to the correct rules. To this effect, an essential topic for the Austrian company is the thorough training of the local technicians. With a correct application, success is guaranteed.

Some examples of the works developed in Africa this year:

• NIGERIA

Nigeria is one of the African countries where Wolftank is operating with local partners. The company has a partnership with Smartflow Technologies, who applies tank lining systems.

In this context, Smartflow Technologies recently received a request from a major global energy firm. The Epoflex tank lining, due to its excellent resistance to chemicals, entails a high-quality solution as a coating. In addition, Smartflow had already worked with it in many previous projects, with consistently excellent results.

To ensure the higher standard of safety as well as the proper application of the technology, Wolftank provided to Smartflow the full equipment necessary for the activity, of course, all EX certificated. As soon as all the materials were received, the project started.

Smartflow, with the support of Wolftank, provided services included the tank walls inspection, in order to establish the level of damage, leaking points and the condition of the tank. As man entry is required in this phase, the tank was properly cleaned, degassed and sandblasted or power brushed. After the assessment, every hole or damage found was repaired in isolation. After finishing the Epoflex tank lining, the life span of the refurbished tank was prolonged over 15 years more.

• MOROCCO

In the case of Morocco, through the local partner Petromat, a complete tanks repair was recently carried out at a big international energy company.

The process included the repair with Epoflex Klebmoertel N, and Epoflex tank lining.

The refurbished tanks had a capacity of 30m3 and the whole lining project took five days, including here opening the manhole, degassing and cleaning the tank before proceeding, as well as manhole closing and pipes connection afterwards.

• SOUTH AFRICA

Wolftank counts on Colvic SA as a tank lining partner in South Africa. This company is a solution provider for the safe storage and distribution of fuels to the retail and commercial petrochemical industry.

One of the last projects developed by Colvic consisted of 5 underground tanks of 23000 litres. It was required the lining of all the tanks. This entails that all of them were previously de-gassed and properly cleaned. Results were excellent and the customer is now prepared for using them for a long time.

• TANZANIA

The TPS Group has been the first customer of Wolftank in Africa and the successful collaboration is continuing since almost 1 decade. With its headquarters located in Dar es Salaam, TPS has become a reference for many companies across Tanzania and its neighbouring countries, especially Kenya, Uganda and Malawi.

Collaboration includes more than 15 tank lining campaigns since its beginning.  As an example, TPS have recently repaired and enhanced the lifespan of many tanks for a large international company. The process always included sludge removal, ultra-sonic tests, sandblasting, Fibreglass or Epoxy application, filtration and water removal. As habitual in all Wolftank partners, safety measures were fully considered.

In conclusion, these examples are perfectly representative of the way Wolftank operates on the African continent: strong partners, detailed training to the local teams and high-quality solutions. Wolftank technologies are definitively all over the world and Africa is no exception.

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