Pretreatment with automated blasting technology
Currently, the Dutch coating company Thielco Steel Solution Group has invested in four new blasting systems for small parts. These prepare bulk material for Geomet zinc flake coating possible with organic top coat.
After more than 10 years of continuous operation, the existing blasting systems were worn out and no longer met today’s quality standards. “They simply had to be replaced,” says Michèl Jacobi, production manager at the Geomet plant at Thielco, explaining the reason for the major investment. “On the basis of our own positive experience with the previous AGTOS blasting machines and the recommendations of our long-standing plant manufacturer WMV Apparatebau GmbH as well as the Geomet licenser N.O.F., we decided to use four AGTOS rubber belt blast machines type “MG 0180” connected in series in the future.” The blasting chamber is made of wear-resistant manganese hard steel. The integrated high-performance turbines are designed in such a way that they exhibit low wear under the toughest operating conditions. In addition, they have a high abrasive throughput and therefore operate very economically. A further advantage is the high maintenance friendliness of the blasting systems. The entire machine construction is not only designed for long-term operation, but also optimized for maintenance and replacement of spare and wear parts.
The workpieces to be blasted are circulated by the continuous rubber belt and exposed to the centrifugal blast during the entire time. The rubber belt ensures gentle circulation. The machine is filled and emptied in automatic mode. The turbines of the rubber belt blast machines each have a drive power of 11 kW and a blasting material throughput of 162 kg/min at the currently set speed. Challenging was the available time window for the assembly. Within only ten days, the old AGTOS and WMV blast machines had to be removed. Four new rubber belt blast machines were integrated into the existing coating line. Baskets with bulk material are now cleaned, deoiled, blasted, coated, dried and cooled around the clock in four-shift operation. Within the production line, the four AGTOS blasting chambers are positioned parallel to each other. The baskets with the bulk material are moved to the desired position by a transfer unit.
“We are very satisfied with the blasting systems from AGTOS. The maintenance and care of the systems is also perfectly tailored to the needs of a company like Thielco,” concludes Jacobi.
Further information: www.thielco.nl, www.agtos.de