Continuous cutting performance using only water and abrasive

The technology company ANT AG offers an innovative solution for a continuous suspension process with the ConSus abrasive mixing unit.

With this technology, the Water Abrasive Suspension (WAS) can now also be used in the manufacturing industry. The suspension jet enables a more efficient cutting performance and a lower user load compared to the conventional Water Abrasive Injection (WAIS) systems.

In contrast to three-phase WAIS systems with water, abrasive and air, WAS systems work with a two-phase blasting tool. The cutting jet consists only of water and abrasive with a precisely adjustable flow rate. This suspension is created by the interaction of a main stream and a bypass stream.

Suspension process convinces with higher effectiveness

Before the WAS arrives at the remotely handled cutting nozzle, it is put under high pressure. The high energy creates a cutting jet in the nozzle which exits at nearly twice the speed of sound. The efficiency is considerably higher than in the injection process, where turbulent mixing losses occur due to the contained air. In addition, due to the smaller nozzle diameter, the jet is more focused and cuts even the hardest materials precisely.

ANT’s ConSus (Continuous Suspension) system is operated at working pressures between 500 and 1500 bar. Compared to conventional waterjet cutting processes, the ANT suspension jet operates at less than half the pressure and, depending on the desired cutting performance, twice to three times the feed rate. The user receives thin kerfs without hardening or material deformation.

ConSus: Lower emission levels

ConSus also offers advantages in work safety with its worldwide patented lock system. Even at maximum working pressure (1500 bar), the noise exposure is still 70 percent below an injection jet operated at 5000 bar with conventional industrial waterjet cutting systems. Lower system pressures and high abrasive loads, which are characteristic for ConSus, also reduce the emission of solid particles. Injection systems operating at much higher working pressures for the same cutting performance cause up to twice the particle emission concentration.

ConSus can be integrated into any existing waterjet cutting system, whereby only the pump and control need to be adapted. It can be operated both above and below water without the influence of air or heat. It thus meets the requirements of the manufacturing industry, the offshore sector and nuclear energy companies as well as explosive ordnance disposal (EOD/IEDD).

ANT received the Best of Industry Award 2018 in the category Forming Technology and Sheet Metal Working for its innovative and powerful ConSus solution.