Ventilation in Blast Machines

Author:  Kumar Balan | Blast Cleaning and Shot Peening Specialist
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 39, Issue 2, Spring 2025
Doc ID:  2025010
Year of Publication:  2025
Abstract:  
Introduction Without an exception, every functional blast machine whether cleaning, peening, or performing a similar action, is ventilated by a dust collector and exhaust fan. This collector takes several forms from a simple “sock” in a small manual blast cabinet to a programmable cartridge-type collector or wet collector for special applications. For those of you wondering the relevance of this discussion to shot peening machines, a vast majority of your airblast peening machines use the ventilation volume and exhaust fan static pressure to pneumatically convey the media through the machine. This is commonly referred to as “vacuum reclaim.” Before we get into the depth of our discussions, allow me to relate my initiation into ventilation and dust collection as a young engineer in India. My employer was a company that manufactured dust collection systems to ventilate any dust emanating source including blast machines. This comprised of furnaces for fume extraction, cement plants with its multiple dust sources and so on. My work instructions were simple: (a) drive around until you see brown smoke from a stack, (b) go in and sell your dust collection solution! One such not-so-cold call to an electric arc furnace location put me in contact with a plant manager that was convinced with my pitch of how this marvel of a box with filters was going to solve his pollution control problem. When we started discussing operating costs, I was duly informed that he would only operate the 75 HP exhaust fan connected to the dust collector “as needed”.