Katana Industries installs surface prep systems

Katana Industries Inc., Burlington, Ont., has installed a Wheelabrator 10-ft. plate machine and a Wheelabrator full-recovery airblast room at its wind generation manufacturing facility in Columbus, Neb. The company produces 262.5- and 295.3-ft. steel tubular wind towers.

After the plate steel arrives at the plant, it is plasma-cut to size and shape. The cut pieces then are cleaned in the airless blast system, using steel shot abrasive to achieve a near-white blast finish, and transferred to the plate roll machine to be formed into sections. The sections then undergo a welding process, are assembled to maximum shipping size, and are welded together.

The assemblies then are taken to the airblast room and placed on carts for rotation and blasting using steel grit abrasive. The ring seams and joints are blasted, and the rest of the assemblies are sweep-blasted. Finally, the blasted assemblies are moved on rails into the paint room for the coating application.

The airblast room can handle both nonmetallic and metallic abrasives that range in weight from 50 to 300 lbs. per cubic ft. Depending on the application, this capacity can be from 1 to 4 cubic ft. per minute over the length of the separator. This allows a range of applications, from precise finishing of delicate surfaces to the removal of rust and heat-treat scale. Working two shifts daily, a maximum of six operators can work in the full-sized room.