Sustitución de la arena en procesos de chorreado en seco para la limpieza de superficies metálicas

Abstract

The present article centers its objective on valuing the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of abrasive materials which substitute sand, conventionally used in the processes of surface preparation of the ships that undergo maintenance in the shipyards of the Corporation of Science and technology for the Development of the Naval, Maritime and Riverine Industry –Cotecmar– in Cartagena de Indias, given the negative impact that its use generates in the environment and in the health of the personnel involved in the process. Applying the hierarchic method AHP, the methodology of material selection of the Corporation for the Investigation of Corrosion –CIC– and the cost method developed, a group of abrasive was selected to test its technical-economic competitiveness in the lab as well as in Cotecmar’s shipyards. The final result was a dry-blasting process with copper dreg, and a contingent process that uses dreg of ferronickel. The first material is commercialized as an abrasive, the second isn’t, and both are technically and economically competitive with only a marginal impact on the environment and on the health of the personnel.