Taking Surface Pre Treatment To The Next Level

Their products help farmers provide crop nutrition all over the world with accurate dosing and precise distribution of seeds, salt and fertilisers. Their commitment to innovation is similar to the Ervin culture which has underpinned a strong relationship between the two companies.

One of the key elements of the Rauch quality assurance process is to identify and remove oil and grease from blasted workpieces. Rauch discovered that high levels of oil and grease were building in the abrasive operating mix, which was coming from other parts of the production process.

Testing samples of abrasive from the blasting machines with the water drop test showed a very high level of oil and grease. The test measures how long it takes for the water drop to run through the abrasive; higher levels of oil and grease result in the water taking longer to run through. Rauch were already using a degreasing additive, but were still recording water drop test times of around 4 minutes, 12 times longer than would be expected with a clean abrasive.

The volume of additive being used and the significant associated cost to Rauch was sufficient for them to be interested in talking about AMAPURE, Ervin’s new degreasing additive for metal abrasives, launched in early 2022.

Initially, a test was conducted to compare Amapure with the competitor additive in the Rauch blasting process which utilises a continuous overhead conveyor system and twelve blast wheels. Over a number of weeks, the water drop test was used regularly to measure the level of oil and grease contamination in the abrasive operating mix.

The results were very clear; using the same amount of additive, Amapure achieved a 50% improvement in cleaning compared with the additive that had previously been used. In addition to the reduced cost of additive, the switch to Amapure also reduced the amount of waste to be disposed.

Commenting on the results, Peter Huck, Technical Manager for Rauch Landmashinenfabrik GmbH said “Blasting with Ervin’s medium-hard grit and abrasive cleaning by Amapure took our surface pre-treatment to a higher level.”