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AGTOS - Energy efficiency in the field of blasting technology

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Energy efficiency means that a required gain should be achieved with less energy as possible. According to the economic principle, processes do only have a lasting positive effect when every needles consumption will be avoided. This is one of the items which the team of AGTOS will explain on their stand at STEELFAB show, January 17-20th.

Blast machines consume a lot of energy. That is a sufficient reason to think about energy efficiency especially in the field of blasting technology.


the AGTOS high performance turbine: sturdy housing made of manganese steel. The modern construction reduces assembly times.

AGTOS, situated in 48282 Emsdetten/Germany, constructs and manufactures shot-blast machines according the customer's requirements. Methods are offered which have a positive effect on the current consumption. Many methods are of a constructive nature others are related to the application of specific drives.

To determine the correct dimensioning of all motors is taken into consideration when constructing blast machines. Reserves are also considered. Therefore, the operation of the unit is also guaranteed in the event of an overcharge.

A method especially designed for AGTOS blast machines to reduce the current consumption is the servo drive for abrasives control valves. They allow the automatic regulation of the abrasives flow through the turbines. The fewer abrasives is needed to achieve the desired performance the fewer power will be taken by the driving motors of the turbine. Furthermore, also abrasives will be saved because it's wearing slower. The replacement need will be delayed.

The core of each shot-blast machine is the turbine. Here we have a great variety of types. The differences are to be found in the construction as well as in the technical characteristics and the material of the wear parts.

The AGTOS high performance turbine is a rugged aggregate structure that is extremely efficient due to a reduced number of wear parts and a high abrasive flow rate, which brings down the shutdown times compared with other turbines. The shot-blast turbines are equipped with six blades on one side attached to a single disc (therefore the wearing is reduced on one disc). For assembly normal tools are sufficient, the blades are pluggable. That saves time. Compared to other turbines, the blasting wheel only has six blades instead of eight or more. Moreover, the distance bolts, which are required for double disc wheels, are not needed anymore. The spare parts costs are already reduced by the low number of wear parts. . In addition, there are fewer components disturbing the flow of the abrasives (no velocities), which improves the blasting result at the same power consumption levels.

Equipping the turbines with frequency converters permits the regulation of the engine speed. That offers particular advantages. For certain work piece groups individual programs can be provided in order to achieve surface qualities defined before. The achievable reproducibility of the surface quality is very important for many customers. A further advantage is that different surfaces and dimensions can differently be treated by using the same abrasives. If required AGTOS turbines are operated with an abrasives granulation up to 3 mm. Thus, large dimensioned units with large distances between turbines and work pieces can be realized. With regard to energy efficiency frequency converters have the advantage that the ideal performance of the turbines can be proved with minimal energy consumption.

A further method to reduce energy consumption is to transfer the unit into idle mode when no work piece has to be blasted in a certain time.


the turbine wheel of the AGTOS high performance turbine: less wear parts and a simple assembly cut operating costs.

This method can only be related to few motors (such as turbines) if the brakes are short. If the brakes are longer, all motors can be stopped. Regarding roller conveyor -and hanger-type blast machines this is made by f. ex. light barriers, threshold levels or other optical detection devices. Regarding tumble belt -and steel belt blast machines you have to interrupt the current alimentation to the turbines, when the doors are getting upwards and the abrasives has been brought from the bucket elevator to the abrasives hopper.

The cleaning of the filter cartridges in AGTOS units is not made by regular compressed air shots. Filter cartridges in AGTOS filter units are cleaned depending on the differential pressure. The higher the differential pressure is, the shorter is the brake. That saves energy when the cartridges are relatively new. Also the filter media is saved, because compressed air shots cause damage due to its movements and the carried dust.

Further constructive advantage of the AGTOS blasting technology is f. ex. a filter cartridge whose cage can be reused. Thus, material is saved. It has also a positive effect on the spare parts prices. The same is valid for several turbine parts. Thus, f. ex. the control cages consist of several parts so that only the worn parts have to be replaced.

The drives of the blast machines offer further saving potential. As far as possible they are designed for the better efficiency class. An exemption are the turbine motors. Because of the sealing and the bearing you can only achieve efficiency class "2". It's different regarding components such as filter, bucket elevator, screw conveyors and drums.

With respect to this topic AGTOS closely works together with the customer in order to find ideal solutions. Furthermore, they continue to check further saving potential.


 

 

Click here for further Information and Contact to AGTOS Gesellschaft für technscihe Oberflächensysteme mbH in our Suppliers Profile

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