Improving the efficiency of production processes has always been an important task, especially in order to increase one's own competitiveness. In the recent past, this need has once again increased considerably. The need to reduce energy consumption and thus the cost of gas and electricity has taken on a completely new significance. The improvement of the CO2 footprint has also become a central aspect and here further steps on the part of legislation are in prospect. Production processes must therefore be put to the test, including surface treatment by blasting. Many practical experience values show that it is worthwhile not to remain inactive here. Large new investments are not always necessary to achieve much. Sometimes, auxiliary materials and additives can also develop an astonishing effectiveness.

Significant savings for crane manufacturer

For example, an internationally renowned manufacturer of mobile and construction cranes was able to reduce blasting costs by a mid-six-figure euro amount per year simply by using an additive to remove grease and oils from the abrasive in a large blasting system with 16 blast wheels. The additive is fed in via a metering device in an optimum, preset quantity so that it mixes directly with the blasting medium in the blasting medium bunker and a constant concentration is ensured during operation. The crane manufacturer uses PantaTec Ultimate Additive, which is dosed via the proven Injecto 05 device. In the blasting process, the additive requires only very short contact times with the contaminants to bind and isolate them. In the air sifting unit, the additive particles loaded in this way are discharged from the blasting unit. The blast dust including additive particles with the bound oily contaminants is disposed of as before. Due to its special properties, the cleaning additive does not form any residues in the blasting system and, when used correctly, has a strong wear-reducing effect.

Hardly any wet chemical pretreatment left

The stable improvement of the operating mixture and the integrated degreasing function have, firstly, completely eliminated the need for pre-cleaning for 95 percent of all welded assemblies and components. Secondly, the cleanliness of the blasted surfaces has been so improved with increased throughput that powder coating can be applied immediately after blasting. Since then, the usual quality assurance methods have consistently confirmed compliance with all quality parameters. As a result, the crane manufacturer no longer required any wet chemical treatment or drying for most of the components that passed through the system with the improved blasting process - either before or after blasting. Incidentally, since the introduction of the PantaTec process, the plant has returned to its original performance data after a long time. The required quality despite shortened throughput times with a simultaneous increase in plant availability - the unit costs for blasting and in some cases also for surface treatment fell significantly. In addition, the consumption of energy sources such as gas and electricity was reduced, which not only saves costs but also sustainably improves the CO2 footprint. It is therefore hardly surprising that the implementation of the devaluation additive is already in preparation for another blast machine.

Stabilization of the blasting process

The addition or stabilization of the conventional blasting process with the degreasing function through the addition of the Ultimate additive has now been tested and proven in many applications over a period of around twelve years. With regard to combined blasting and degreasing, it is therefore not far-fetched to call the PantaTec process an industry standard. The advantages are obvious, as the figure on the left of the next page shows, combining a blasting process with a wet chemical cleaning and drying process adds up to effort and cost, whereas blasting with the additive removing oil and grease from the abrasive only marginally increases effort and cost for the blasting process. If the blast machine and the components to be processed are well matched, it is not uncommon for wet chemical cleaning processes to be completely eliminated - including subsequent energy-intensive drying. But even if some components still require additional wet-chemical cleaning, the effort and costs involved are usually considerably reduced. Even though manual dosing of the additive is possible and also achieves good effects, the automated and continuous direct injection of the Ultimate cleaning additive into the abrasive flow of the blasting system brings the best results. The dosing technology developed by PantaTec in the form of the Injecto 05, like the process itself, has proven itself over many years.

Improvement in overall equipment effectiveness

However, a second aspect besides the savings in chemical cleaning processes is the improvement in the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of the blast machine that can be achieved by using the additive - and this has not yet been the focus of much attention. Here, too, the blast additive proves to be very effective and, in view of the overall economic situation characterized by rising costs, this aspect is becoming increasingly important. The everyday starting situation, i.e. the frequently observed operating conditions in the blasting process, often looks like this: semi-finished products and components made of metal, such as welded constructions, castings, stamped parts, bent parts and similar, are often contaminated by oily and greasy operating additives and are blasted directly from the machining process without thorough pre-cleaning. These filmic residues accumulate in the blasting medium and thus distribute them throughout the entire blasting system. The consequences, often visible to the naked eye, are oily and dusty residues on blasted surfaces. Because the fine film that forms as the steel media becomes increasingly loaded with oil is better and better at binding dust, abrasive particles, rust, and other contaminants, the effectiveness of air classification is reduced, and prematurely clogged filters also increase the amount of dust in the abrasive and the blast system. Because the operating mixture thus contains more and more fine and light components that can store only little kinetic energy from the turbine, the removal rate decreases and the necessary blasting times increase. Premature shutdowns of the blast machine for wear repairs, maintenance and cleaning also increase. All of this significantly depresses overall plant effectiveness and leads to avoidable additional costs. However, many shot blast operators are either unaware of these effects or do not see them as relevant and therefore do not take improvement measures.

As in the case of the improvement of the blasting process at the crane manufacturer mentioned at the beginning, the application engineers of PantaTec with their holistic approach have helped many users from small medium-sized businesses to large-scale industry to reduce costs in recent years - with a manageable effort as far as the necessary investments are concerned. On the material side, costs of around 8,000 can be expected for the implementation of the PantaTec process with the Injecto 05 dosing system, which has been tried and tested over many years, for the equipment of a medium-sized blasting plant. In view of the high cost pressure, also with regard to energy, and the very concrete potential for improvement, it would be only logical for blast machine operators to scrutinize the current conditions in their in-house blasting process and to check for problems. Whether the additive mentioned here brings improvements and can therefore be a solution can often be found out even without any investment by manually inoculating the blasting medium.

PantaTec GmbH
www.pantatec.de