Productivity is enhanced and tanks are brought into operation again more quickly. Their closed loop cleaning system reduces cleaning time by up to 80 per cent, significantly decreasing downtime and loss of production whilst oil tanks are not operational.

On average cleans are 40 to 80 per cent faster than a manned crew. A white oil tank which would ordinarily take an eight-person team, eight days to clean can now be cleaned in 2.5 days, reducing 280 manhours of CSE to zero hours. Their patented, self-contained system includes vacuum, jetting, cranage, and robotics, with nothing extra to hire or buy, simplifying the entire tank cleaning process.

To date Re-Gen Robotics has made £7 million investment across several key areas including their people, service offering, state-of-the-art headquarters, and robotic equipment and trucks, in preparation for significant international growth.

In less than three years, the company has eliminated 10,000+ hours of CSE cleaning in tanks. Over 30 tanks consisting of white oil, black oil and distillate tanks in gas plants have been cleaned and they have completed the first worldwide, 100% no man entry tank cleans for oil majors such as Shell, P66 and Vermilion, among others.

Confined space man hours have been eradicated, leading to an overall reduction in both accidents and health and safety incidents on site. The tank cleaning industry has made a paradigm shift in attitude toward safety and forward-thinking oil majors have committed to end manned tank cleaning across their operations by 2025.

Managing Director Fintan Duffy said: “Re-Gen Robotics has completely transformed the tank cleaning industry, and this is being duly recognised by industry bodies, our peers and the entire sector.

“In 2020 we picked up the Safety Technology Award at the Global Tank Storage Awards, which recognised our service for ‘revolutionising safety’ in the tank terminal industry. We recently won the Northern Ireland Regional Chamber of Commerce Problem Solver Award, which recognises businesses that have transformed a product/service or the market it operates in.

“Again, last month we were recognised with three awards at the Energy Industries Council Awards, including the Innovation Award, the Sustainability Award and the prestigious Company of the Year Award.”

The EIC praised Re-Gen Robotics for applying their 100% no man entry robotics technology to ‘reduce the personal risk of a routine activity that many people are not aware of but is an essential industry task’.

According to Mr Duffy the company has evolved so much recently with the addition of new robots, equipment and services that have very quickly made a big impact on their market share.

He said: “We’re working hard on several new patents that will allow us to carry out more diverse tasks remotely in 2022 and we are investing heavily in our incredibly talented people and our processes as we prepare to serve European and worldwide demand.