All You Need To Know About Wet Blasting
wet blasting, which is also referred to as vapor blasting, is an industrial process that uses compressed air and abrasive media to give a specific surface a desirable finish. Different from dry blasting, wet blasting uses three elements, and the third one is liquid which enhances the quality of surface finish to be achieved.
Methods of wet blasting
Wet blasting can be easily achieved by mixing dry abrasives with a liquid (water) in either of the following ways: through halo nozzles, which involves damping the abrasive in a mist immediately it leaves the abrasive nozzles. The second method is water injection nozzles; this is damping the abrasive before you release it from the blast nozzle. The third one is modified blast pots, which store the abrasive and water in either air pressure or water. Lastly, there are the wet blast rooms which involve reclaiming, pumping, and recycling the used abrasive.
What are the advantages of wet blasting?
Here are the common advantages of wet blasting;Reduces dustThe use of water in the process reduces the amount of dust released into the environment. This is the main advantage of wet blasting in the abrasive blasting process; thus, it offers protection to the workers, the plants, and machinery, among many other surrounding components that can be damaged by dust. Moreover, this is an added advantage to its users because they can conduct their abrasive blasting process in an open environment.
Offers a cleaning effect
There are various types of wet blasting; there are other types that allow you to strip while cleaning the surface. This saves on time and resources because you will not be required to separate the rinsing processes to get rid of media fragments or other soluble salts.Elimination of static chargesAbrasive blasting easily leads to the production of sparks which in some instances can lead to fire outbreaks or explosions when there is a flammable material close. Wet blasting does not produce any sparks but creates cold sparks, which are less harmful with no explosion effect.
What are the disadvantages of wet blasting?
Well, everything has its positive and negative sides; the following are some of the common and most experienced disadvantages;Consumes a lot of waterWet blasting consumes a lot of water; to make it even worse, every different wet blasting method applied consumes a different amount of water. Therefore, it means you have to add more water costs as much as you are eradicating dust and protecting the surroundings or conducting the process near a direct water source.
Expensive
The systems pumping water, mixing, and reclaiming can be very expensive, adding that the drainage costs are always high in every plant. Moreover, these systems can easily break down, and thus they require regular repair, which is costly. Therefore, the general cost of wet blasting is even more expensive for the companies that need to buy water to facilitate the process.
Bottom line
Wet blasting is highly recommendable in many abrasive blasting companies due to its effect on the surrounding. However, it has a few drawbacks they still do not beat the positive side of it. To avoid issues with the authority and other environmental activists, this should be your way.
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