Differences between Wet Blasting and Dry Blasting

Surface treatment is common in modern industry, especially before repainting. There are two kinds of the most common types of surface treatment. One is wet blasting, which is about dealing with the surface with abrasive materials and water. The other one is dry blasting, which is dealing with the surface without using water. They are both useful methods to clean the surface and remove dirt and dust. But they have different techniques, so in this article, we are going to compare wet blasting with dry blasting from their advantages and disadvantages.

Wet blasting

Wet blasting is mixing a dry abrasive with water. Wet blasting has a lot of advantages. For example, wet blasting can reduce dust because of the water. Less dust is floating in the air, which can help the operators see clearer and breathe well. And water can decrease the possibility of static charges, which may cause sparkles, and explosions if near fire. Another greatness is that operators can treat the surface and they can clean it at the same time.

However, wet blasting also has its shortcomings. Water is a kind of precious resource in the world. Wet blasting will consume a large amount of water. And used water is mixed with abrasive materials and dust, so it is difficult to recycle it. For piping water into the blasting system, more machines are required, which is a large amount of cost. The biggest disadvantage is that flash rust may happen during wet blasting. When the surface of the workpiece is removed, it will be exposed to the air and water. So wet blasting is required to work continuously.

Dry blasting

Dry blasting is to use compressed air and abrasive materials to deal with the surface. Compared to wet blasting, dry blasting is more cost-effective. Because dry blasting doesn’t need additional equipment, and some of the abrasive materials can be recycled. And the dry blasting is high efficiency and can strip away the coatings, corrosion, and other contaminants. But the dust in the air may cause harm to the operators, so operators have to wear protective equipment before blasting. When abrasive materials remove the coatings of the surface, it may cause a static explosion.

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