FAQ

Do You Need to Use Breathing Air While Sandblasting?

September 3, 2019

Sandblasting or abrasive blasting can be very dangerous for the operator or surrounding employees if the proper precautions are not taken to ensure the equipment and surrounding area are safe. While sandblasting inside of a large booth, it is imperative to make sure you have a proper supply of breathing air to avoid inhaling contaminates, dust and other particles.

Sandblasting Risks

Perhaps the largest danger of sandblasting is putting yourself at risk for respiratory disease. The most common associated with sandblasting is silicosis, which is caused by inhaling the broken down particles of your blast materials. You could also put yourself at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning by using a malfunctioning gas compressor that has not been properly maintained or checked before use. In order to eliminate both risks, high-quality breathing air and a well maintained air compressor are both needed.

Breathing Air & Compressors

When sandblasting, you need a correctly sized air compressor that has been well-maintained. If your application can stand small amounts of oil, then an oil-injected compressor is fine. If you cannot have any trace amounts of oil in your air, you will want to go with an oil-free compressor, or use filtration to remove the oil from your air. If you are sandblasting in a large booth, you will want proper safety equipment to protect your skin, face, etc. and you will also need a clean air supply. Pneumatech's breathing-air purifiers are an excellent source of breathing air for sandblasting and other applications where clean breathing air is needed. These machines can easily provide breathing air in accordance with OSHA, CSA, CGA and ANSI, including the grade D breathing air that is required by OSHA for sandblasting operations. The air is passed through a special 7-stage filtration process and removes moisture, solid particles, oil aerosols, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon vapors. These units can be sized to fit and sized air compressor for any scope of application.

This manufacturing plant in Wisconsin needed a good source of breathing air for their sandblasting personnel and Pneumatech provided the perfect solution.

Contact Us today to discuss breathing air purifiers for your application, or browse our listing of breathing air products HERE.