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The Techniques Explained

Getting The "Sand" Out Of Sandblasting

Think of how many people approach abrasive blasting as a generic process. To them, abrasive blasting is "sandblasting," where "sand" (as found on a beach) is sprayed through a nozzle to remove a coating or etch a surface. Today, sandblasting is referred to as "abrasive blasting" because the emphasis is on the word "abrasive." Much of the development work in this area for the past few decades has not been on the equipment but, rather, on the abrasives themselves.

Twenty years ago you could count the number of different types of abrasives on two hands; today it would require considerably more. Abrasives today range from steel to silicon carbide, from plastic to aluminium oxide, from glass beads to slag materials. Agricultural products (walnut shells, crushed corncobs, apricot pits, etc.) to a myriad of starches and composite materials, from grits to shots... and these are just some of the commercial grades. Each of the different types of abrasive products provides its own unique characteristic of cutting capability, economy, and profiling ability, with a slight degree of overlap as one goes from softer to harder abrasives, weaker to stronger abrasives, and smaller to larger abrasive sizes. As one can imagine, things have come a long way since "sand" was considered the primary abrasive over 75 years ago.

With all of the work being done to develop new abrasives during the past 20 years, there are a couple that stand out due to their unique characteristics and those specific applications where they are particularly effective. We call these abrasives "niche" technologies due to their singular type of effectiveness and radical departure from the conventional.

Dry Ice produces very good results in what is considered “light duty” blasting applications, and where low-temperature embrittlement of the working surface can aid the stripping process. One huge added advantage... there is no abrasive to clean up or recover, since it all turns to a gas. Particularly good applications for Dry Ice include the removal of mould release in plastic and rubber moulding operations (...works best in a hot mould rather than a cold one, and can be done in the moulding press itself), the cleaning of inks and residues from printing presses and other complex machinery, electrical rotating plant, and the cleaning of food residues from automatic food processing machinery.

Sponge material is exactly what it says it is... sponge, or more technically, an open-celled polyurethane material used either as-is, or impregnated with various types of conventional abrasives. Originally developed for blotting oily residues from surfaces and removing soot from fire-damaged buildings in restoration projects, sponge materials today have evolved into a family of products with broad applicability. The two major characteristics of sponge materials are minimal rebound, resulting in minimal job site containment and encapsulation requirements, and low levels of dust generated. Sponge is available in a variety of forms, ranging from plain sponge, as in its original form, to sponge impregnated with abrasives such as plastic, Dupont Starblast® aluminium oxide, and steel grit, to provide ever-increasing levels of aggressiveness in the coating removal process. These impregnated abrasives can provide particularly interesting results due to the various hardnesses of the abrasive materials embedded in the very soft sponge particle. As a result, by varying the type of impregnated sponge used and the blasting parameters, one can achieve varying degrees of coating removal and substrate profiling to suit a wide range of applications, from steam & hydro turbine components to commercial building/structure restoration. All of the grades of sponge material are recoverable.

ENERGICE offers a sponge blasting service to compliment their existing Dry Ice cleaning service. This service is an innovative commercial and industrial blasting technology. The dry, low dust process requires minimal containment, reduces downtime and offers a wide range of surface profiles. Reusable Sponge Media contain different sizes and grades of abrasives (or none) for use on surfaces ranging from the toughest to the most sensitive. The system offers fast, dry, clean, safe and flexible industrial surface preparation at a total job cost often lower than traditional blasting.

The sponge is an open-celled, water based polyurethane impregnated with abrasives. As a result it has several inherent cost, time and money saving benefits. The pliant nature of sponge media allows its particles to flatten on impact (fig. 1) exposing the abrasive.  After leaving the surface, the media constricts pulling (fig. 2) and encapsulating what would normally have become airborne contaminants.

The heart of the Sponge System is the patented Sponge Media. Sponge Media is an open-cell, water reacted polyurethane sponge to which abrasives are chemically bonded during the production process. Each type of Sponge Media has different characteristics and blasting capabilities.

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