Fudike specializes in brake discs for rail transport. These are desanded and cleaned in an overhead conveyor system from 1985 with three indirectly driven 11 kW blast wheels. Dissatisfied with the service life of the wear parts of only 670 blasting hours and the relatively long blasting cycle of 11 minutes, the Fudike team was looking for a modernization that would significantly improve both.
Cycle time significantly reduced
The choice fell on a Titan 15 Smart blast wheel from Wheelabrator. This is a direct-drive blast wheel with cast wear parts for motor outputs below 22 kW. The cycle time was reduced from 11 to 8 minutes with just one blast wheel converted to Titan 15 Smart. Based on this immediate effect, Fudike purchased and installed a further two blast wheels. The modernized system has been in operation since February 2024 and runs more than three times longer without having to change the throwing blades. The blades can be replaced in 30 minutes instead of the previous one hour per blast wheel.
Better performance possible
The modernization has not only led to shorter cycle times, the performance of the blasting system has also improved. The system processes the same number of workpieces in half the time previously required - this saves operating costs and, according to Fudike, the new blast wheels have long since paid for themselves.
Savings in operating costs possible
The short amortization time of the blast wheel upgrade shows how great the influence of blast wheels is on the operating costs of blast wheel blasting processes. According to Wheelabrator, the Titan 15 Smart was also developed with the aim of optimizing blasting operations in terms of costs.