Assessing the energy consumption of your shot blasting process

Ervin’s technical bulletin

Shot blasting machines can be one of the biggest energy users in the workplace. To power the wheels that spray the abrasive onto the workpiece and transport the blasting media, these machines use a large amount of energy. We can observe the same for driving the material handling and extraction systems that remove waste and dust from the blasting process.

A study of shot blasting processes in foundries in 1997 calculated that energy costs were around 8% of the total cost of blasting. Other key cost areas were labor, maintenance, abrasive, and machine consumption. Over the next 25 years, the cost of all these factors has gradually increased. However, the energy crisis - started in the second half of 2021 and early 2022 - is bringing further increases in prices, which will inevitably affect the blasting process.

As all companies struggle to keep costs under control, energy efficiency in the blasting process is probably more critical now than ever before. There are several ways in which users can help optimize energy consumption in their blasting process:

Wheel Efficiency
Blasting machine wheels consume up to 50% of the total electricity required by the machine (including its extraction system). Efficiency is the basic condition for reducing energy costs, but how to achieve this goal?

• Control cage settings – Make sure as many particles as possible hit the workpiece by regularly checking the blast pattern.
• Maintenance – A damaged or broken wheel can reduce the effectiveness of blasting and cause excessive friction and wasted energy.
• Reduce amps – The most effective way to reduce the energy costs of grinding wheels is to reduce amps and control the use of abrasive. It is also important to obtain the same end result, paying attention to maintaining the required surface finish. Aiming for the quality of the abrasive will be the key to this purpose.

Abrasive selection
When choosing abrasives, size, shape, and hardness are also relevant factors for reducing energy costs, amps, or blasting time. Ervin has a network of local technical assistants who will help you evaluate your blasting process and develop an optimal product tailored to your blasting needs. Their dedicated Test Center in Germany also conducts detailed, customer-focused surveys. Processes are always unique, so finding an ideal steel or stainless steel abrasive solution can reduce overall costs.

Blasting times
Expert advice on abrasive selection can lead to optimized workpiece blasting time while ensuring correct results and cleaning profiles. When measured in terms of the quantity of product blasted (for example tonnes of workpieces or m2 blasted), faster blasting is clearly more efficient, and the speed of each cycle can be adjusted, reducing energy consumption.

Operating mix
It is important to maintain a balanced operating mix of abrasives to ensure the best blasting results, both in terms of impact and workpiece coverage. The Ervin Spot Check Kit is the tool designed to regularly monitor this crucial aspect. Without this check, blasting times can increase significantly.

Maintenance
Good machine maintenance, especially of moving parts, can reduce energy waste. In particular, checking the condition of wheel assemblies (impeller, control cage, blades) can improve efficiency.

Ervin is ready to help you assess the energy consumption of your shot blasting process, and provide you with the most cost-effective blasting solution. For more info, please contact the company team through the references on the side.