Testing & Expertise Overcome Shot Blasting Challenges
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For nearly a decade, Sales Representative and Interim Product Manager of Turbine Blast Equipment Zack Murray has been one of Roslerâs top shot blasting experts.
Working with customers and our global Customer Experience Centers, he helps develop and test surface finishing machines and media in addition to dialing in specific process parameters.
At times, adhering to the Rosler motto and guiding principle of âfinding a better wayâŠâ can be difficult and complicated. Luckily, Murray and the entire Rosler team are committed to delivering world-class surface finishing equipment, consumables, and service in a variety of industries.
In this post, Murray shares the most challenging issue he has tackled at Rosler and how the team developed a solution.
The Problem
A customer contacted Rosler for help in processing relatively large magnesium automotive parts. Considering the need for high throughput speeds in combination with the size of the parts, Murray knew a turbine blast machine would be the best option.
Shot blasting turbine
âIn turn, the indication of a turbine blast machine meant that we were limited to metallic blast media,â Murray said, âas these machines are not typically suitable for mineral-based blast media such as aluminum oxide or glass beads.
âMagnesium is a tricky material to blast in a turbine machine since it is prone to sparking with most metallic media. In addition to the fact that magnesium dust is highly flammable and combustible, we needed to avoid a potential recipe for disaster.â
The process had to safely and efficiently deliver deburring and edge radiusing while minimizing the potential for sparking.
The Solution
Understanding that a relatively soft metallic media was required for safety and effectiveness, the team was left with the choice of aluminum or zinc blast media.
Testing both media types demonstrated that results from the aluminum media most closely aligned with the customerâs desired process results.
âUnfortunately, aluminum dust is also highly flammable and combustible,â Murray said. âThe combination of the magnesium and aluminum dust was potentially dangerous enough to warrant an St3 Dust Hazard rating, which is the most severe rating, indicating a very high potential for fire and/or explosion.
âSince the customer was not at a point in their product development cycle where they could get a dust hazard analysis performed as a result of part availability, we had to assume that the dust would be rated at St3.â
As such, a wet dust collector with an anti-oxidizing compound dosing system was suggested for the customer with the further recommendation that the dust collector be installed outside, away from areas that commonly see human traffic, and that exhaust air was absolutely not allowed to feed back into the building.
Rosler RF 550 NS including sludge drag conveyor and high-efficiency design to reduce residual dust
The Rosler Way
With more than 80 years of experience and a portfolio containing more than 15,000 equipment and consumable products, solving challenges is what we do at Rosler. Testing for safety and efficiency is an important step in achieving a stable and repeatable surface finishing process.
Contact us today to request free test trials in one of our global Customer Experience Centers and allow us to develop a solution for your unique challenges!
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