Blast Cleaning Equipment

The general structure of a pressure blast cleaning system is illustrated in Fig. 4.1. It basically consists of two types of equipment: air suppliers and air consumers. The prime air supplier is the compressor. At larger sites, storage pressure vessels accompany a compressor. These vessels serve to store a certain amount of pressurised air, and to allow an unrestricted delivery of a demanded amount of compressed air to the consumers. The prime air consumer is the blast cleaning nozzle. However, hoses, whether air hoses or abrasive hoses, are air consumers as well – a fact which is often not considered. Another consumer is the breathing air system. However, it is not uncommon to run separate small compressors for breathing air supply; an example is shown in Fig. 4.1. Further parts of a blast cleaning configuration are control devices, valve arrangements and safety equipment.