User:Djkenmasters/Waterjet Abrasive Recycling

Overview
Abrasive is the main consumable in waterjet cutting, excluding wearing parts, and can account for up to 50 percent of the total cost of operating a waterjet system. One recent development in the waterjet machining industry is the recycling of this abrasive.

Before recycling became an option, companies removed the abrasive from the catcher tank for disposal. Many different methods can be used to accomplish this task, from mechanical scrapers to reticulation of the suspended solids in the tank through cyclone separators. The abrasive then is settled in a drum, ready to be dumped. However, in recent years abrasive recycling systems have gained some ground. A waterjet abrasive recycling system offers the additional option of washing, sorting, and drying only the good garnet for immediate reuse.

As an example, a recycling system with a 24-inch-diameter separation screen can dry a recommended 150 pounds of abrasive per hour. Because only the reusable abrasive is dried (typically, 50 to 70 percent of new abrasive can be recycled after the first use), the total capacity of the system is such that it could support all the abrasive introduced into a waterjet by a 150-horsepower pump, using 4.5 pounds of abrasive per minute.

Viability
With abrasive as the largest cost of operating a waterjet, abrasive recycling can cut operating costs. It is possible to reuse up to 80 percent of the abrasive, reducing the cost of abrasive to 20 percent of what it costs new. If abrasive is up to 50 percent of the total cost, recycling could reduce operating cost by as much as 40 percent. If three or four heads are used, the cost to operate the additional heads becomes negligible, while production can increase 300 to 400 percent.