Powder abrasive: production, consumption. Where can I use abrasive powder?

Abrasive powder is a very popular material in the industry used for cleaning metals from rust. There are several varieties of it, differing in properties and cost. Use abrasive powder for surface treatment can also in many ways.

Material Advantages

At the moment, the industry produces only two main types of abrasive powder: kupershlak and nickel slag. They were used in production not so long ago. In the past, ordinary quartz sand was used instead. When cleaning the surface, the last thing in the air was very fine dust, polluting everything around. At the same time, it was necessary to produce a rather laborious and costly operation for washing the processed products. In addition, small particles of quartz flying in the air fell into the lungs of workers. As a result, they developed a chronic professional disease - silicosis. Unfortunately, in our country cheap quartz sand for surface cleaning is used up to now. In Europe, applying it for this purpose is strictly prohibited.

Varieties

Most often in the production uses kupershlak. This is an inexpensive material that allows to perform cleaning qualitatively. Nickel slag is distinguished from it by the greater strength of the particles. Also in industry, a kind of abrasive is sometimes used, such as diamond powder. However, it is quite expensive, and therefore it is used mainly only for the manufacture of grinding tools, pastes and suspensions.

How it is made

The production of abrasive powder is technologically not particularly complicated. Kupershlak from granulated copper-smelting slags. They are turned into a fine-grained state by very rapid cooling with water. The resulting powder for cleaning from various kinds of undesirable impurities is placed on a special inclined grating with small cells. As a result, small particles of kupershlak wake up. Large (limestone, refractory materials, garbage) remain above.

Nickel slag is manufactured using the same technology. The only difference is that in this case nickel slags are used as feedstock.

Characteristics

The main properties that determine the quality of such a material, as an abrasive powder, are:

1. Degree of hygroscopicity. The smaller, the better the product. Dry powders can be used in the production process at once, without wasting time and money to dry.

2. Friability. This figure for abrasive powders should be as high as possible. Very loose materials easily pass through the nozzle of tools designed to clean surfaces without clogging them. As a result, the equipment lasts longer.

3. Ratio of fractions. Quality is considered only that material, which includes particles of different sizes (from 0.5 to 3 mm).

By the degree of danger to the human body, the abrasive powder is assigned to the fourth group. This means that you can work with him without fear of harming your health. For comparison: besides the fourth class of danger , such materials as metal scrap and powder remain when grinding metal parts.

Scope of application

Thus, most often an abrasive powder is used to clean the surfaces of metal products from rust. In addition, it is used to remove residual paint and plaster from concrete and bricks. Use abrasive powders can also be used to remove destroyed or thawed areas when performing repair work.

Surface treatment with this material can be carried out either by conventional abrasive blasting, or hydro- or flame-abrasive.

Comparison of kupershlak and quartz sand

Of course, modern abrasive powder costs more than quartz sand. However, the performance characteristics of it are much better. For the sake of clarity, we present below a comparison table for these two materials.

Abrasive powder: consumption

The particles that form part of the cuproslag and nickel slag have very sharp edges. Therefore, the surface treatment can be performed very qualitatively. In this case, unlike quartz sand, abrasive powders practically do not form dust. Therefore, processed products do not need to be laundered, spending additional funds on this.

Dust during quartz sand cleaning is formed because its particles are strongly crushed. With abrasive powders, this practically does not occur. Therefore, they can be used for cleaning twice, and sometimes three times. Of course, this significantly reduces their consumption. Therefore, it is beneficial to use kupershlak and nickel slag, despite the fact that they are much more expensive than sand. The consumption of abrasive powder per 1 m2 is only about 30 kg. For comparison: sand for the same area has to spend about 100 kg.

Abrasive powder: GOST

According to the degree of impact on the human body, kupershlak and nickel slag, as already mentioned, belong to the fourth group (according to GOST 12.1.007). When manufacturing abrasive powders, the standards GOST 17.2.3.01-86 regarding the maximum permissible emissions must be observed . Regulates the State Standard and the type of individual protection of personnel when working with a cupper slag and nickel slag (GOST 12.4.034). The maximum allowable content of natural radionuclides in abrasive powders is regulated by GOST 30108. Actually this material is produced usually according to TU 1789-001-34557754-99.

Home Use

Some masters are wondering where you can use abrasive powder. Kupershlak and nickel slag at home can come in handy can hardly. They are used immediately in significant quantities to clean large surfaces. At home, mostly only diamond powders are used. They are well suited for the manufacture of pastes, intended for polishing various kinds of metal products of complex shape.

Also, diamond powders are often used for self-made lapping tools. In this case, a special abrasive stone is usually used as the basis. After degreasing, apply a working layer of the following composition (% of mass):

• Diamond powder - 2-4;

• Copper oxide powder - 25-35;

• Orthophosphoric acid is the remainder.

Cost

The price for nickel slag and kupershlak is approximately the same. These powders cost about 3000-3500 rubles per ton. The price for quartz sand ranges from 800-900 rubles per ton. Diamond powder, of course, is very expensive. They sell it not in tons or even in kilograms, but in grams. Its cost is 35-70 rubles per gram.

As you can see, the abrasive powder is a very useful and demanded material. Different types of it can be used both in industry and at home. He does not inflict harm on health, the operational characteristics are just remarkable.