Abrasive Blasting

Efficient Blasting Method

Wet abrasive blasting (also known as vapor abrasive blasting) removes coatings, contaminants, corrosion and residues from hard surfaces. It’s similar to dry blasting, except that the blast media is moistened prior to impacting the surface.  Its main advantage  over dry blasting is that it reduces dust.  This allows  operators to work in a wide range of environments with minimal setup and cleanup costs. It results in a cleaner and more consistent finished, ready to coat, with no embedded particles or clinging dust.

This abrasive method is alternatively referred to as wet blasting,  vapor blasting, slurry blasting, wet sandblasting and dustless blasting.

abrasive blasting

While working with the Torbo® system on abrasive blasting projects during the recent years, we have found that this technology is much less likely to damage sensitive substrates as we have complete control over the impact that the media has on the surface at hand. The amount of blast media that the system uses is significantly less than most of the other conventional methods of blasting (Dust reduction rate of nearly 95%). It is not uncommon to perform this blasting work without a containment, dust collectors or negative-air pressure on site.

State-of-the-art Equipment: Torbo®

Utilizing Torbo® Wet Abrasive Blasting Systems, our surface preparation teams in MD and PA are  able to blast and clean virtually any type of surface with a combination of blast media and water. The Torbo® system is adjustable at will, which gives us the versatility to go easily from heavy blasting to gentle cleaning as the surface dictates. When abrasive impacts a hard surface, the particle often breaks or shatters, propelling finer particles into the air as dust, in addition to dust already present in the dry media. This impact can also cause dry sparks charged with static electricity. When wet abrasive impacts a surface, the water droplets trap the fine particles. The additional water weighs the particles down, preventing dust. The presence of water also confers more mass on the particle at impact. As the water droplet disperses, the hydrostatic force blasts away surface coating, leaving a trimming edge around the perimeter for a seamless recoating. This state-of-the-art blasting system allows us to handle industrial maintenance applications such as:
  • Cleaning/Removing layers of concrete
  • Removal of paint by layers
  • Total coating removal to a specified degree of cleanliness
  • Removal of oxidized layers from steel