Water Jetting and Water Blaster Equipment

Water jetting and water blaster equipment is used to direct high pressure streams of water against a surface to clean or cut the material.  The steams of water released by water jetting and water blasting equipment can exceed 10,000 psi.  Water jetting and water blaster equipment is used for cleaning or demolition of products made of metal, wood, concrete, stone, plastic, glass or other building materials. 

Water jetting and water blaster equipment is available as a complete system, or it can be acquired in component forms.  Complete systems have all of the components required for the blasting or jet machining applications such as pressure generation / intensification, cabinets, nozzles or wheels, and dust collectors.  Water jetting components or accessories include blast or jet machine parts that can be used to build a system or replace a worn or broken component.

Specific components within a water jetting or water blaster equipment system include abrasive injectors, pressure generators, blast cabinets or booths, water guns, and water tanks.  Abrasive injectors can convert a water jetting system into an abrasive blaster. The injection or metering system controls the amount of abrasive pushed into the air stream. In large systems, the delivery system and injection system may be separate components.  Pressure generators increase the pressure of the carrier fluid (water or air).  Plunger-type intensifier pumps are commonly used to generate high pressure water for water jet cutting, wet or water abrasive blasting and non-abrasive pressure washing or rinsing. Crankshaft driven plunger pumps are also used for pressure generation.  Crankshaft driven plunger pumps may be more efficient in electrical energy costs compared to intensifiers, but at high pressures (>20,00 psi) seals must be periodically replaced.  Crankshaft driven plunger pumps also provide a virtually ripple free pressure source in comparison to intensifiers.  An accumulator may be required to smooth out pressure fluctuations if an intensifier pump is used.  In air based blast or jet systems, air compressors are typically used to generate pressure.

Blast cabinets are a glovebox-like vessel that holds the workpiece and contains blasting or cleaning process.  Blast cabinets usually consist of a chamber with glove ports, viewing window and internal lighting.  The workpieces rest on an open grid that allows used water or water-cleaning agent mixtures to drop through for recycling or disposal. Blast rooms or enclosed blasting booths contain the blasting process when blasting larger workpieces.  Blast booths usually consist of a room with internal lighting that holds both the workpiece and the operator.  The operator may hold the blasting nozzle on the end of a lance.  The workpieces rest on open grid flooring that allows blast water and removed debris to drop through for recycling or disposal.

Water guns or lances are the apparatus within water jetting and water blaster equipment that directs the stream of water through a nozzle and at the appropriate region of the workpiece.

The water tank or hopper is used for storage of water, cleaning agents, blasting media or abrasive-water slurry mixtures.

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