As you may already have read, dry abrasive blasting, or grit blasting, uses small angular particles at high pressure in a stream of compressed air to strip away coatings, linings, scale, corrosion or other contaminants from a surface.
This can be anything including but not limited to pipework, ducting, structural steelwork, carbon steel fabrications, boiler pressure parts, turbine components and plant.
Grit blasting is commonly used to prepare a surface for linings, coatings or Non Destructive Testing / Examination (NDT / NDE).
So what are 10 industrial uses for Grit Blasting?
1) Pipework Internals: Commonly for the oil, gas and petrochemical market where pipework is to be treated with a high performance lining, the internals are required to be grit blasted to ensure an adequate, clean, profiled surface for lining. They can usually be done in our works with the associated cost benefit.
2) Pipework Externals: One of the most common requirements, the externals of pipework frequently require protecting with a high performance protective coating depending on the environment they are operating in. In some high pressure pipework, NDT / NDE is required to be carried out to ensure no stress cracking / fatigue is present. Grit blasting has been proven to be the most efficient method to prepare pipework externals for these situations.
3) Structural Steelwork: Everywhere you see steelwork, whether it be in a building or a bridge, grit blasting is almost guaranteed to have been used as the surface preparation method prior to coating.
4) Boiler Tubes (for NDT / NDE): Abrasive blasting is used to prepare banks of boiler tubes for NDT / NDE and is widely regarded as the most effective method of surface preparation for NDT / NDE.
5) Oil and Gas Industry Base Plates: Base Plates can be time consuming to blast due to their complex configuration but the importance of blast cleaning prior to coating cannot be over emphasised.
6) Steam Turbine components (for NDT / NDE): Steam Turbine components are critical items of plant with some so highly regarded that they cannot even be removed from the site where they are located. These components that cannot be removed from site are likely to be treated on-site within one of our bespoke Temporary Blast Buildings. Or if the client permits, they can also be processed within our facility in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
7) Gas Turbine Components (for NDT / NDE): As per Steam Turbine Components above, these critical items can be processed either on-site within our bespoke Temporary Blast Buildings. Or if the client permits, they can also be processed within our facility in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
8) Miscellaneous Items: As above, larger items have to be encapsulated and grit blasted in situ. Smaller items can be grit blasted in our Temporary Blast Buildings.
9) Stainless Steel Items: Grit blasting can be used to prepare stainless steel items for coating, lining or inspection. Compared to carbon steel, stainless steel is harder, making it more difficult to achieve the same surface profile obtained on carbon steel, therefore abrasives such as Aluminium Oxide are used.
10) Carbon Steel Fabrications: Carbon steel rusts and therefore needs to be protected from the elements with a protective coating, again grit blasting is the most effective method of achieving the required cleanliness prior to coating.
Find Out More
At KUE Group, we offer both on-site and off-site grit blasting for a range of industrial components. To request a quote or discuss your requirements, please get in touch today.
