What is a media reclaimer? How does a reclaimer work?
Why would you want a reclaim for your blast cabinet?
The biggest advantage to using a reclaim with a dust collector is you will be able to reuse much of your unspent abrasive media.
This increases your blasting efficiency and decreasing your blast media costs.
Reclaimers fall into two main categories: pull-through and push through.
Pull-through reclaimers do not have an exhauster, but work in coordination with a motor powered dust collector which has an exhauster.
Push-through reclaimers have a mounted exhauster, and usually work in conjunction with a non-powered dust collector, or larger applications like blast rooms.
How Reclaims Work
With a blast cabinet, reclaimers separate the larger, reusable blast media from the finer particulates, which are moved towards the dust collector.
Compressed air enters the blast cabinet, where a surface is blasted, creating dust. The air is moved by a hose to the reclaim unit. In the reclaimer, an air vortex is created in the top cylinder of the reclaim unit. The heavier media particles bounce off the sides of the reclaim, and fall into the hopper below, as reclaimed media that can be reused in the blast cabinet.
The smaller dust particulates move on to the dust collector through another hose. In the dust collector, the heavier particles fall to the bottom of the dust collector. The smallest dust and particulates pass through a filter, and the filtered air is discharged back into your work area.
Reasons to Invest in a Reclaim For Your Blast System
Productivity. By removing smaller, less efficient particles from the blast cabinet, it ensures that you are using the most consistent blast media. This helps you strip surfaces faster.
Visibility. By removing dust and other particulates from the blast cabinet, your visibility is increased, allowing you to work more productively and see the surfaces you are blasting.
Media Costs. By reclaiming abrasive media that is still viable, you get more uses from your blast media, saving money in the long run.
Types of Media That Can Be Reclaimed
Glass beads are a good fit for using with a reclaimer separator. Most glass blasting beads get about 30 recycles, and can be reused once excessive moisture has been removed.
Aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, and garnet are media types that are higher on the Mohs’ hardness scale. You can get about 50 recycles out of aluminum oxide, and between 70 and 100 uses from silicon carbide. If you are blasting with these harder media types, be sure to check your reclaim periodically for wear and tear on the replaceable parts.
Steel shot and grit may be used if the reclaimer is rated at 900 CFM or greater. Steel shot or grit is not recommended for use in reclaims with a standard size inlet.
Copper or nickel slag are not recommended for use with a reclaim unit. Slag breaks down very quickly, and does not have many recycle uses.
Reclaimer Summary
Using a reclaimer separator along with a dust collector increases productivity and efficiency, while reducing media costs for the year.
If you have any questions regarding blast cabinets, abrasive blasting equipment, dust collection, or media reclamation, feel free to contact us here.
To see how the RB900 Reclaim works as part of a direct pressure blast system, watch the video below.