In an impressive feat of teamwork, two Texas-based blasting companies joined forces to rid two 40-foot metal boats of marine paint, anti-fouling, and bondo in less than a day.
Marine Epoxy REMOVAL TESTS
We compared the effectiveness of DUSTLESS BLASTING® to traditional sandblasting for marine maintenance & repair.
Overview
The owner of a prominent marine repair shipyard on the Mexican Pacific coast has significant productivity concerns due to the dust production from their current dry blasting processes.
At their request, we embarked on a series of experiments in order to quantify exactly the benefits of upgrading their shipyard's dry sandblasting equipment to DUSTLESS BLASTING® equipment.
We began by recreating the exact conditions of the marine coatings they employ at our facility in Houston.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EXPERIMENTS
The total area was prepped, treated with marine epoxy paint, and then divided into three segments of 9m2 each for the following tests:
- Initial test area to validate the performance of our blast equipment.
- Area with 48 squares of 1 sqft. each for tests of different configurations.
- Area for final validation of abrasion speed in high speed configuration: 6 squares of 1m2.
The experiments were carried out dry and wet with:
- 2 types of abrasive (copper slag, medium grit crushed glass).
- 3 abrasive flow configurations (0.25in, 0.5in, 0.75in).
- 3 blast pressure levels (100psi, 125psi, 150psi).
- 3 different nozzles (#5, #6, #6XL).
our results & conclusions
Our main takeaway is that wet blasting with copper slag (their abrasive of choice) is significantly speedier than dry blasting. The tremendous advantage of transitioning their equipment line to dustless blasting cannot be emphasized enough, as it is not only faster, but also suppresses dust, enabling nearby workers to carry on with their tasks uninterrupted.
- The shipyard's dry blasting average removal rate: 11 square meters per hour
- DUSTLESS BLASTING® average removal rate: 14.5 square meters per hour
In this field test, Dustless Blasting provided a 31.82% increase in coating removal speed compared to dry blasting.
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Dustless blasting is the easiest way to scale your business
Bring Dustless Blasting In-house
Investing in this versatile machinery will streamline operations and boost profitablility. No longer are you having to waste time and money on outdated methods or outsourcing.
ADD A NEW SERVICE TO YOUR BUSINESS
Whether it's used to restore classic cars, boats, or antiques - the applications for dustless blasting are seemingly endless and can help existing businesses expand their offerings and generate increased income.
THE DIFFERENCE DUSTLESS BLASTING CAN MAKE
Dustless Blasting can strip away unwanted, tough coatings from surfaces. Our machines offer an advantage over traditional sandblasting – significantly less dust and more productivity per pound of abrasive.
EXPLORE OTHER CASE STUDIES
A swift solution was needed when blisters were discovered on the fiberglass gelcoat of this 54-foot vessel. And that's where Dustless Blasting stepped in as the clear choice.
Two blasting companies collaborated and leveraged DUSTLESS BLASTING® equipment for an industrial-scale water treatment plant project.