Rösler PowerLine valve – the first blast media flow control based on AI

With its innovative PowerLine valve Rösler achieves a substantial improvement in turbine shot blasting operations. The recently developed “intelligent” shell valve ensures that the blast intensity of the turbines is automatically adjusted to different shot blasting requirements. This ensures optimal operating conditions. The adjustment takes place independently from the turbine RPM and without time consuming manual adjustment of the blast media flow. Therefore, equipment malfunctions and operator errors are more or less completely eliminated, and the overall process and equipment safety is significantly improved. This process optimization, along with a lower blast media consumption and lower energy input, results in a high cost-efficiency of the shot blasting process.

The turbines are without doubt the centerpiece of shot blast machines and determine to a large extent the blast performance, the required cycle times and the costs of a shot blast process. Until now - during the commissioning of a new blast machine, the creation of work piece specific programs, a blast media change and during maintenance work - time consuming adjustments of the blast media flow were required to achieve optimal operating conditions. In this respect the turbine speed (RPM) plays an essential role: If, for whatever reason, the turbine speed is reduced, it decreases the amperage draw and the blast media throughput. The new, “intelligent” shell valve from Rösler allows the automatic, optimal adjustment and control of the blast performance independently from the turbine RPM. The partially manual and error-prone adjustment of the shell valve is, therefore, a thing of the past!

AI makes the first self-teaching blast media flow control possible
At the heart of this new, patent pending system is an innovative shell valve. Through special sensors the valve opening is automatically adjusted to the specified blast media flow. For the determination of the opening a special software was developed that takes the parameters amperage draw, throwing speed and blast media flow into consideration. One feature of this software is that, with the menu “setting of the blast media flow” it allows the automatic creation of separate programs for each turbine within a few minutes. Manual adjustments are no longer required. All the operator has to do is enter the optimal operating parameters for the respective shot blast process, such as throwing speed, blast media flow or amperage draw, at the operating panel. If, for example, a high work piece throughput is required, the operator can simply increase the blast media flow and the throwing speed. At the same time, for processing delicate work pieces, it is possible to reduce the media flow and throwing speed to a value that prevents damage to the work pieces.

Faster, more stable shot blasting processes with lower energy input
In everyday shot blasting operations the new Rösler PowerLine valve results in shorter cycle times. The complicated and time-consuming adjustment of the shell is no longer required. Equipment malfunctions and operator errors have practically been completely eliminated, and the shot blasting processes run with a higher degree of stability and consistency. Therefore, unplanned equipment downtimes can to a large extent be prevented. At the same time this “Intelligent” solution produces significant energy savings. Moreover, individual shot blast programs for new work pieces can be easily created and saved in the PLC. And finally, complex shot blast processes requiring different blast media flow quantities can be quickly implemented without any problems. For example, for the de-sanding of castings the process usually starts with a relatively low blast media flow, which is then gradually increased. This ensures that the sand carried into the blast machine with the castings is safely and effectively separated from the blast media, and the castings are properly cleaned. Compared to traditional de-sanding operations, where some turbines are sequentially turned on and off, the PowerLine valve helps to significantly decrease the cycle times. The Rösler system also offers substantial advantages for shot peening operations with short cycle times by drastically reducing the setup times for the respective peening process. An additional benefit is the automatic monitoring and documentation of the blast media flow. It provides proof that a given shot blast process has been run with precisely defined parameters. The new Rösler PowerLine valve is available as a separate option and is also available in the Rösler Smart Solutions package.