Dynamic Co.
Hydro-Blasting
Hydro-Blasting, commonly known as water blasting. In Hydro-Blasting, a highly pressured stream of water is used to remove old paint, chemicals, or buildup without damaging the original surface.
This method is ideal for cleaning internal and external surfaces because the operator is generally able to send the stream of water into places that are difficult to reach using other methods. Another benefit of Hydro-Blasting is the ability to reducing waste and mitigating environmental impact.
Hydro-Blasting stripping or cleaning, or water blast cleaning, is a common used method for the removal of material, coating, or contamination from the surface of a steel plate, pipe, machinery etc. Dynamic Co. has experience with all methods of Hydro-Blasting methods and specializes in ultra high pressure blasting.
Dynamic Co. Operates High pressure jets and Ultra high pressure blasting uses water that is pressurized between 12.000 to 36,000 psi (800bar-2500Bar) to remove coatings and debris from substrates.
The Hydro-Blasting method removes these paints with one of two different categories: erosion or delamination. Erosion is commonly applied mostly on the high performance coatings namely, metal and carbide thermal spray coatings and a special nozzle is operating to convert the water stream into smaller pencilled stream, which affect the surface of the coating and thus small pieces of the coating to erode off the surface, leaving the substrate intact.
Hydro-Blasting machines consist of the following subsystems:
- Pump to pressurize the water.
- Nozzle to deliver the correct stream of water to the work piece.
- Enclosure to contain process.
- Nozzle and part manipulators.
- Waste handling equipment.
- Process control devices.
The Hydro-Blasting method has a number of advantages over competing conventional processes used to remove coatings. Usually the coatings removed with ultra high pressure blasting were applied either by the use of chemicals or other conventional mechanical means such as grit blasting , mechanical tooling, hammering, scraping or machining. Chemical cleaning is expensive, slow, and non Eco friendly. Grit blasting or mechanical tooling is more cost effective and faster than chemical processing, but cannot separate the coating and the substrate, which often causes removal of excessive material.
Definitions and suitable water pressures range.
Definition | Pressure (Bar) | Pressure (psi) | Flow rate (l/min) |
---|---|---|---|
Low pressure water cleaning | < 68 | < 1000 | |
High pressure water cleaning | 68 – 680 | 1000 to 10.000 | 90 – 50 |
High pressure Hydro-Blasting | 680 – 1700 | 10.000 to 25.000 | 50 – 25 |
Ultra high pressure Hydro-Blasting | > 1700 | > 25.000 | Down to 12 |
Relation water pressure, effect of cleaning and production rates.
Pressure (bar) | Removal of: | Typical speed (m2/hr) |
---|---|---|
Up to 500 | Fouling, salt and dirt. | 300 |
> 1000 | Also loose rust and paint. Firm adherent paint remains. |
150 (machine) |
> 2000 | All coatings. Restores original roughness profile. |
5 (handgun) 100 (machine) |
> 4000 | All coatings. Creates roughness profile. |