Case study: SAND line, industrial vacuum cleaners for sandblasting process

Case study: SAND line, industrial vacuum cleaners for sandblasting process
Janeiro 16, 2023 ivision_vacuum

iVision Vacuum has installed the SAND line industrial vacuum equipment at a major Italian company specialized in cleaning hulls using the sandblasting process. This company uses large amount of grit in very large work areas, with the aim of cleaning up all the impurities. The materials to be vacuumed are the grit, that needs to be collected and dusted and the materials removed from the hull, such as: impuritiesoxiderustcalcificationsalt and/or paint.

The sandblasting process

Sandblasting machines throw an abrasive material at high speed with a specific gun, which can be of different shapes and materials. Often, the used materials are natural sands such as Garnet, or other forms of abrasive materials, such as metal grit.

Sandblasting processes can take place:

– Outside: 

The area of work and sand collection is very large with several meters to cover;

– Inside:

The cabins, specifically designed for the sandblasting process, are set up inside the company, they can be of different sizes.

iVision Vacuum provides customized solutions for both sandblasting processes and for all types of abrasive material used.

Company needs

The customer’s need is to recover grit and separate it from impure materials. This operation can be carried out at the end of the process or during the sandblasting process using the special industrial vacuum cleaner designed by iVision. The SAND line model is designed to satisfay this need; it is capable of fulfilling the entire process of collecting, dedusting and purifying grit.

When you use large quantities of grit, you need to quickly collect the used amount and clean it, in order to reintroduce it immediately into the sandblasting process. In addition, grit must also be collected to keep the environment clean and to safeguard workers’health.

How does the SAND line industrial vacuum cleaner work?

In this company we installed an iVision industrial vacuum cleaner from the SAND line customized according to customer’s needs.

The sand and the impure materials that settle on the floor are vacuumed and enter a cyclonic pre-separator. Here, the parts that are heavier fall by inertia into a first bin where it takes place the collection of the grit suitable to be reused. Above the bin it is placed a screen that filters waste materials, such as stones or dimensionally larger materials, allowing only the grit to pass through it. The rest of the collected materials, being lighter, remains in suspension; this is the part of the “dirty” and impure materials.

The process just described is called grit dedusting.

The discharge is made by a rotovalve, which, if desired, makes it possible to reuse the vacuumed grit immediately, feeding it into the sandblasting machine and making it immediately available for the sandblasting process.

When the customer needs to store the grit, iVision Vacuum also provides a range of accessories such as big containers (flippable bins) or bins with different capacities: from 100 to 1000 liters.

Benefits for the company that has chosen the SAND line vacuum cleaner

The benefits for our customer who decided to install the iVision SAND line vacuum cleaner are:

  • Immediate availability of the grit used for the sandblasting process

The dedusting process taken by the cuclonic pre-separator, allows the grit to be immediately separated and to reintroduce always the same grit in the sandblasting process.

  • Reduce the cost of purchasing new grit

Once the grit has been cleaned and reintroduced into the sandblasting process, the customer does not need to purchase a larger amount to continue its work.

  • Reduced downtime during the sandblasting process and the time of dedusting

By the time the impure grit has been immediately cleaned and put back to work, the company avoids downtime that has to be hold by manual sieving.

  • Reduced labor costs

When the grit cleaning is made manually, even if the working area is small, it is necessary to employ from 2 to 3 operators to sieve the remaining amount of grit. If you use a SAND line vacuum cleaner, this operation can be carried out by a reduced number of people, because it is the vacuum cleaner that performs the process of collecting and dedusting the grit.