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Plastic blast stripping – Austin Hayes

New Mac’Ants plastic blastroom facility enhances specialist stripping service

Industrial coating specialist Austin Hayes has enhanced its capability with the installation of a self-contained, dedicated plastic blast stripping system from Mac’Ants. The new facility, at the company’s Leeds premises, is the latest in a series of Mac’Ants stripping units operated by Austin Hayes and is offering a number of distinct advantages, both to the organisation and, indeed, to its customers.

The installation is centred on a twenty-foot long dedicated blastroom which, significantly, features an electrically powered vacuum recovery system that minimises compressed air usage – reflecting specific location considerations at the site. However, the self-contained design means the entire unit can be readily relocated elsewhere when necessary, as ongoing developments at Austin Hayes’ premises continue to be made.

“Our use of plastic blast media dates back some two and a half years and has always been based on four hand cabinets also supplied by Mac’Ants,” comments Austin Hayes’ Director, Steve Graves. “However the need now to prepare components of larger sizes – typically up to 25 kgs in weight – pointed directly to the need for the new facility to be installed.”

The design incorporates an externally located three-phase industrial vacuum with a purpose-designed blasting table inside that serves both as a working area for the operator and as an automatic blast media recovery system. “This removes spent plastic media to a filtration and air wash system for re-use, allowing the significant costs benefits associated with the long term use of plastic media to be fully realised – alongside those the material offers in terms of stripping speed,” he continues.

Economic operation is further enhanced by connection to a three-phase electrical power supply that also maximises supply capacity compared to a single phase alternative. It also compares favourably with traditional pneumatic vacuum generation, which would require a minimum of 90 cfm of compressed air to operate at maximum vacuum levels – a factor which cannot be readily fulfilled at the current location on site.

“Decibel levels are also lower than they would be with a single phase system whilst high vacuum levels of 12 inches (500mBar) – compared to 7 to 8 inches for pneumatic and single phase systems – are also a key advantage,” comments Mac’Ants Director Kent Martin.

“The installation clearly offers Austin Hayes an enhanced service, particularly in terms of the larger items the company can now handle, and acts as a complement to the other existing equipment. The fact that the blastroom can be readily relocated is also seen as a key factor in the company’s longer term site development plans,” he continues.

Steve Graves points out that the new facility is centred primarily on the work that the company undertakes for the Ministry of Defence, one of the key sectors upon which Austin Hayes has built its excellent reputation in the industry. This latest use of Mac’Ants plastic stripping expertise has thus played a key role in broadening the company’s involvement with this important customer, while retaining the added benefit of site location flexibility.

“This is an important development for the company and we are delighted to have been able to be involved once again in the ongoing success of Austin Hayes,” adds Kent Martin. “It is the combination of environmental and economic advantages coupled with the modular convenience of the blastroom design which we are confident will make a further important contribution to our customer’s ongoing success for many years to come,” he concludes.