Eggersmann Anlagenbau, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany

Waste treatment plants are exposed to very severe corrosion attack

One of the first users was the company Eggersmann Anlagenbau (EAB) which, in east Westphalia, designs and builds turnkey ready systems for mechanical and biological waste treatment. The machines and equipment units of these systems are exposed during operation to extremely different and aggressive media. To protect the plant components against premature corrosion damage, an accordingly high-quality protective coating is very important.

The usual process materials are used, such as corrosion protection oil on laser sheets

For 4 years, the technical director of EAB, Jörg Halstenberg, has already used the blasting method with the ULTIMATE additive for degreasing in the preparation of corrosion protection and reports the following:
“In the production of our components, the usual process materials are used in our steel construction and sheet metal processing , such as for example corrosion protection oil on laser sheet metal, flexural grease and drawing oil, release agent spray during welding, cooling lubricants and thread cutting oils.
For the subsequent preparation of anti-corrosion coatings, these substances must be removed of course.

Damage through defective adhesion caused by oil and grease

We have carried out the cleaning of the manufactured parts till a good 4 years ago by hand, using aggressive cleaning agents accordingly. Our parts range varies widely, with dimensions from a few centimetres to several metres being common here, and can follow each other directly in the process flow.
Poor execution of this cleaning process then repeatedly led to the entry of oils and greases into the blasting process and thus to contamination of the blasting media. The result was uncontrolled spread of oils and greases to virtually all the components which have been blasted. Adhesion failures during the subsequent coating, especially for water-based systems, were inevitable.

Jörg Halstenberg, Technical Manager, Eggersmann Anlagenbau

Required reworking, and in the worst case complaints, resulted in considerable costs and damage to our reputation. The investment in a washing and drying plant was not an option for us, not least because of the high energy input required. We are, after all, a company that deals with environmental protection and resource conservation.

The surface blasted with PantaTec is grease-free

We have found the perfect alternative in using the PantaTec method with which, in the blasting process and by the addition of a cleaning additive, degreasing and blasting are being dealt with in one single operation.
After initial scepticism that this simple method would eliminate serious weaknesses in our processes, we were already able to convince ourselves of the effect of the additive through some small-scale tests. First, according to the recommendation of PantaTec, we had to "vaccinate" our continuous blasting machine, which is equipped with 4 blasting wheels at 15 kW and with wire mesh belt conveyor, with a larger amount of additive. I.e. in the first hour we added at first 6, then 4 and finally 2 litres of additive into the blasting medium, in intervals of approx. 5 minutes, with the aim of rapidly producing an effective homogeneous mixture. So 12 litres were already enough for our 5 tons of operating mixture.
After approx. 30 minutes, we could ascertain, with a so-called water repellant test, a reduction of the oil content and grease content and an improved flowability of the blasting medium.

The visual impression of the blasting material itself became cleaner and more metallic. The dust was easier to blow off. The blasting image became recognizably more homogeneous and with the desired surface roughness of approx. 50 ? (Rz).
Now in continuous operation (2 - 3 shifts), we continuously add approx. 4 litres of additive per blasting hour and with this achieve the process reliability aimed for. Meanwhile, for some months we have been using the automatic dosing unit INJECTO from PantaTec.
This facilitates the use of the additive and is another building block of process reliability.

We can certainly achieve surface tensions of more than 48 mN/m, a very good basis for our coatings, which will now certainly achieve the requirements for corrosivity category C5 Long, according to DIN ISO EN 12944.

For the past 4 years we have integrated this method solidly into our production process for corrosion prevention. I.e. with all components that we geometrically pass through our blasting system, we can do without washing and drying. So we save on the costs for this. Our suppliers of the coating materials confirm by respective salt spray tests that, among other things, with this method we are able to fulfil the often required C5-L very well. Meanwhile even Fraunhofer IFAM has confirmed the effect and the suitability of the method in Bremen by its own tests.

For us, this simple and yet so effective process of surface preparation means an annual saving in the 6-figure euro region and all of this with concurrent increase of process reliability and hence also of quality.

Washing and drying of parts, reworking or complaints due to adhesion failures of coatings are no longer an issue for us.

In total, we have succeeded with the help of this new method, among other things, to reduce the production costs of corrosion protection by around approx. 1/3. This improves our competitiveness significantly.”