Since 2010, Zheijang GoSun Co. Ltd has been gradually replacing chemical descaling operations on its drawing lines with mechanical solutions.
With a total of five Wheelabrator FL Wire and Bar Descaling shot blast machines already in operation at the GoSun’s 35,000sqm facility in Zheijang Province, the manufacturer of high-precision cold-drawn steel bar, is mechanising a further three lines, with the introduction of three additional Wheelabrator FL machines.
FL shot blast machines from Wheelabrator reliably remove scale, rust and other contaminants from wire or bar surfaces before processing, and can be integrated into existing, fully automated drawing lines, keeping up with high-performance drawing speeds.
What differentiates FL machines from general-purpose heavy-duty machines are the guide plates that focus the abrasive stream onto narrow surfaces like wire or bar, thereby boosting the descaling effect without increasing abrasive throughput. This improves the efficiency of the whole blast process while reducing abrasive consumption and wear on parts.
The new FLs at GoSun are two single-strand wire descaling machines, type FL-3-22(30)/38, with three U70x380 blast wheels (30kW each) per machine, and one single-strand bar descaling machine, type FL-4-37/85, with four U70x380 blast wheels (37 kW each).
The three machines will be descaling round, hexagonal or square wire of 6 to 15mm diameter, round and hexagonal bar of 30 to 50mm diameter, as well as free cutting steel.
Wheelabrator received the order for the new equipment in August 2017, delivery of all three machines is scheduled for March 2018. The machine order is handled by Wheelabrator’s team for heavy-duty applications in Zurich, while parts and services for new and existing Wheelabrator equipment at GoSun are provided by Wheelabrator China in Changzhou.
Gianluigi Parravicini, Sales Manager at the Wheelabrator Centre for Product Innovation in Zurich, comments: “Moving from chemical to mechanical descaling has many advantages in terms of efficiency and productivity, as it removes the need to handle hazardous liquids and can happen in-line, in step with the drawing line. GoSun have told us that they were particularly impressed with the reliability of our equipment, which played a big part in their decision to purchase from us again. GoSun’s operations are highly sophisticated and integrated, and it’s in demanding environments like these that our FL machines really excel.”
Wheelabrator will be showcasing its FL range at Wire 2018 in Düsseldorf, Germany. The team will be at stand C33, hall 9.