What is the purpose of sponge blasting media and its applications?

The blasting process is for cleaning surfaces before coating or painting tasks. The process removes contaminants, rust, and grease from the surface so that the new coating can easily stick to the surface and give a finished look. There are mainly two types of blasting. One is sandblasting, and the other one is sponge blasting. Both are dry-blasting processes. Sponge blasting eliminates 98% of the dust from the process while sandblasting uses sand and many types of abrasive. These abrasive particles propel through compressed air on the surface. Sponge blasting is for delicate surfaces and the elimination of dust. It creates low dust and is environmentally friendly. Sponge blasting media that are polyurethane particles consists of several different abrasives.

The purpose of sponge blasting media

The sponge blasting works by projecting sponges through compressed aironto the surface that needs blasting. Having an impact on the surface, the sponge releases the abrasive to the surface that cleans it. Then the sponge sticks the waste products with it and falls. From there, it is collected and can be recycled. The purpose of sponge blasting media is to clean the surfaces of contaminants and provide a smooth finish.

The non-abrasive media is for cleaning delicate surfaces, whereas abrasive media is for cleaning contaminants, rust, protective coatings, and paint from the surfaces. Abrasive media is for roughening the surfaces such as concrete and metallic. There are different types of grit in abrasive media. These include aluminum oxide, steel, plastic, and garnet. Sponge-Jet has created many sponge abrasives. There are micro-abrasives attached to high-quality abrasive sponges. Many recyclable sponges provide extensive use for aggressive profiling and sanding. In other ways, clean delicately on highly- sensitive surfaces. The synthetic sponge in sponge blasting has microcontainment that captures 99% of the contaminants and is thus suitable for hazardous emissions.

Sponge-blasting media has the capability of absorption. Thus, this media is for both dry and wet blasting. Sponge media mixed with a range of cleaning agents is used to capture, absorb, and eliminate various contaminants, including oils, greases, lead compounds, and radionuclides. Sponge-blasting media provides dust control without damping the surface.

1. The equipment used for sponge blasting media is portable and consists of three units that are:
2. The feed unit:

This unit is portable and is available in different sizes according to the capacity required. There is a place on top of it that holds the sponge media. This media is then placed in compressed air in the metering chamber. The size of the pressure of compressed air is changed, and different types of cleaning media are used. Sponge blasting media for removing coatings range from soot on wallpapers to high-performance protective coatings from steel and concrete surfaces.

• The classifier unit:

The classifier unit collects the used sponge media and removes all debris and residues. The sponge media is used again like this. The media is removed from it and placed into the electrically-powered sifter. The vibrating sifter combines media with a pile of progressively finer screens. The vibration of the sifter separates media from the coarse contaminants such as paint flakes, rust particles, etc. The sponge media comes on the relative screen size, according to its quantity. Contaminants collect on the coarsest screens. After classifying media from its contaminants, the remaining dust particles fall through the sifter and collect at the bottom. After this classification, the sponge media is ready to use and placed in the feed unit for the next activity. The abrasive media tends to be recycled six times. Non-abrasive sponge media tends to be recycled twelve times.

• The wash unit:

This unit is for washing the sponge blasting media. Media used in degreasing needs washing every three to five cycles. The wash unit is a portable, centrifuge, closed-cycle device. The contaminated water in the device can be collected, filtered, and reused within the wash unit.

This system is ideal for removing paint, coatings, and contaminants from the surfaces. The waste stream consists of coarse contaminants. The concentrated residues are collected in the bottom of the wash unit and eliminated from there.

This method of sponge blasting media reduces the pollution and the wastage of water that occurs from conventional methods. Sponge-blasting is compatible with most situations where other types of blasting have already been used.

Every purpose of work has its particular sponge media. There are more than 25 different sponges. There is a range of sponges, from “blue sponges “to” silver 16 sponges”. The blue sponge is for delicate surfaces, whereas the silver 16 sponges are for hard surfaces like steel and concrete. Silver 16 sponges can be very aggressive. They can penetrate straight through steel and concrete surfaces.

• Different types of sponges and their purpose:
• Green sponge media:

It is a heavy cleaner, consisting of light or no abrasive.

• Brown sponge media:

Dupont starblast and it is mild aggressive media.

• Silver sponge media:

It consists of Aluminum oxide and has a fast-cut abrasive.

• Red sponge media:

It consists of a steel grit and is a heavy abrasive.

Applications of sponge blasting media:

It is a difficult decision which sponge is the best for the required application. Every sponge has its unique properties, and every project is different. There are many factors to consider when choosing the sponge-blasting media. These are the kind of substrate or surface for blasting, the coating (painting system), the amount of contamination, the accessibility of the blasting project, and so on. With Sponge-Jet blasting, any surface can be cleaned or blasted, like concrete, stone, plastic, glass, aluminum, steel, wood, composite, or any other surface.

Following are some of the sponge blasting media and their application in different projects:

1. For gentle cleaning:
2. SPOCC (0-10 micro):

This media is for cleaning steel, such as removing salts.

• Blue sponge (0 micro):

This media is for cleaning concrete from smoke damage.

• White glass bead (0-10 micro):

This media is for cleaning mold from stone.

• Green (0-10 micro):

This media is for cleaning fat/oils from plastic surfaces.

• White plastic (0-5 micro):

This media is for strip coating from aluminum.

• Silver 500 (0-12 micro):

This media is for cleaning varnish on wood.

• For aggressive blasting:
• Red 40 (50-200 micro):

This media is for removing heavy rust from steel.

• Silver 16 (75-300 micro):

This media is for drilling holes of 5cm in 5 seconds inside concrete.

• Silver 30 (50-125 micro):

This media is for removing heavy contamination from stone.

• Silver 120 (75-300 micro):

This media is for plastic etching.

• Silver 320 (5-25 micro):

This media is for Aluminum polishing.

• Silver 220 (5-35 micro):

This media is for deburring wood.

Conclusion:

To do the projects of sponge blasting, you need to know all about the process, the sponge blasting media and the equipment used. Once you know that, you can easily choose the exact media for your project. Sponge-blasting media is for eliminating the maximum dust produced in the process. You must try Veco Sponge for your sponge blasting projects as they are professional in this field.