Six-lance internal pipe blasting machine for a pipe manufacturer in Mexico

A six-lance TUB-I-AC machine that blasts six pipes per cycle:
• The loading system places six pipes on four rotator carriages that turn them.
• Two booths close over the pipe ends: one on the lance side and one on the extraction side, so the abrasive stays in the work area.
• A carriage with three pressure blast pots, each feeding two 15 m lances, advances at controlled speed. The lances travel inside the pipes, blasting through side-discharge nozzles.
• At the end of the cycle the carriage returns under the silo and refills the blast pots while the pipes are changed, so refilling adds no time to the cycle

The abrasive is aluminum oxide: a hard, recyclable, non-metallic abrasive that leaves no iron particles on stainless steel.

Each pipe size has its own recipe on the screen, setting the lance travel speed —slower at the pipe ends—, the pipe RPM, the number of passes and the margins at each end.

The machine also checks what could go wrong:
• Pipe length: before entry, the PLC checks that the length is within the recipe range. If not, it raises an alarm and the pipe is not processed.
• Nozzles: each lance detects a blocked nozzle and a lack of abrasive flow.
• First pipe of each batch: a validation mode runs the cycle step by step, so the result can be checked and the recipe adjusted before continuous production.
• Abrasive: the silo is refilled by an automatic loader, and the valves meter abrasive with automatic flow control.

At the exit, an inspection bed allows each pipe interior to be checked and residual abrasive to be blown out with compressed air.

• The main collector has 24 antistatic cartridges and a variable-speed fan that keeps suction airflow constant even when air inlets change.
• Emissions are below 10 mg/Nm³.
• It includes fire and explosion protection: explosion vent, isolation valve on the inlet duct, and a detection and extinguishing system.
• A second, dedicated collector serves the abrasive cleaning system.
• The booths are lined with abrasion-resistant rubber, with high-chrome and manganese steel in direct-impact zones.

More in cartridge dust collectors.

The machine is in production at the customer's plant, integrated into its pipe line.