In the Wheelabrator process, steel shot or grit abrasive of specific size and hardness is fed from a storage hopper to the center of a bladed wheel, which rotates at tremendous speed, hurling the abrasive by centrifugal force upon the surface to be cleaned.
The Wheelabrator works entirely without air, eliminating costly air pressure equipment and effecting tremendous savings in horsepower required. It throws more abrasive, harder, and in a work-performance direction, per horsepower expended than any other blasting device ever developed.
A cast alloy impeller rotates with the wheel and carries the abrasive to an opening in the stationary control cage, where it discharges to the bladed portion of the wheel. Here it is picked up by the inner ends of the throwing blades, and is gradually accelerated as it moves to the periphery of the wheel. The speed and direction of the abrasive blast, as well as the distance of the work from the blast, is accurately controlled, assuring maximum cleaning power at minimum operation cost.
The Wheelabrator principle of airless abrasive blasting is highly efficient when adapted to cleaning all diameters of pipe. One or two blasting wheels are positioned below the line of travel, blasting upward at the pipe which is rotated as it moves at controlled speed through the abrasive blast. This allows the pipe surface to be at a constant distance from the blasting wheels regardless of the diameter of the pipe.
Adapting the Wheelabrator to various sizes of pipe is quick and easy. Pipe entry into the blast cabinet is made through removable vestibules having an aperture of the diameter of the pipe to be cleaned. Changing the entry and exit doors is all that is required to accommodate different pipe sizes.
A constant, uniform volume of steel abrasive from the blasting wheels is maintained, which, combined with the steady movement of the pipe, makes this the most efficient and automatic process ever devised.
Abrasive which has been blasted against the pipe falls to the bottom of the cabinet, is conveyed to an overhead separator, and then recycled through the blast wheels. When it becomes too fine to clean effectively, it is removed from the system by means of the dust collector. The separator also removes scale and corrosion products from the abrasive permitting only usable material to be recycled.
Parts of this page were excerpted from: Dr. M.V. Uzumeri and Dr. J.T. Black, Wheelabrator: A Case Study of Variation in Manufacturing Management, A Report for the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management at Auburn University, January, 1995. For more information about this case study, contact:
Dr. Mustafa V. Uzumeri, Department of Management, College of Business, Auburn University, AL 36849, (334) 844-6531, uzumeri@business.auburn.edu
or
Dr. J. T. Black, Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Auburn University, AL 36849, (334) 844-1375
This project is made possible by the openness of the Wheelabrator Corporation and has received financial support from the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management at Auburn University.
DISCLAIMER: Dr. M.V. Uzumeri bears total editorial responsibility for the contents of this document. No other party, specifically including the Wheelabrator Corporation, Auburn University, the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management and any of their employees, is in any way liable for its contents.
Dr. M.V. Uzumeri, Assistant Professor, College of Business, Auburn University -- uzumeri@business.auburn.edu