Abrasive Waterjet Recirculation System for Material Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Abrasive waterjet systems face high costs due to wasteful use of abrasive material, especially when processing hazardous materials, leading to excessive disposal costs and environmental concerns.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a recirculation system within abrasive waterjet systems, where wet abrasive material is reused multiple times by circulating it from a catcher back to the cutting head, thereby enhancing material utilization efficiency and reducing waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If abrasive material is discarded after one pass through the cutting head, then the system operation is simple, but abrasive material is wasted and disposal costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a recirculation system that captures abrasive material after it passes through the cutting head and returns it to the abrasive supply reservoir. This allows the abrasive material to be reused multiple times instead of being discarded after a single pass, directly reducing material waste while maintaining manageable system complexity through a straightforward recirculation loop design
2Loss of substance
If abrasive material is recirculated from catcher to cutting head, then abrasive material utilization improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catcher serves multiple functions: it captures spent abrasive material, allows for separation of reusable versus spent material, and acts as an intermediate storage point before recirculation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional dedicated components, thereby limiting the increase in system complexity while achieving effective abrasive material recirculation
3Loss of substance
If abrasive material is recirculated, then disposal costs are reduced, but the system requires additional components for recirculation
Solution Approach 1:
The recirculation system merges the catcher, conveyance mechanism, and abrasive supply reservoir into an integrated system where spent abrasive material is automatically transported and returned for reuse. This combination of functions into a unified recirculation loop achieves cost reduction through material reuse while presenting the added components as a cohesive system rather than separate additions
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly improves abrasive material utilization, reduces disposal costs, and allows for a more compact system design, while also minimizing environmental impact by reducing the amount of hazardous material that needs to be disposed of.
Implementation Method 1
a cutting head directs a high-velocity jet of liquid carrying particles of abrasive material toward a workpiece to rapidly erode portions of the workpiece
Implementation Method 2
a cutting head directs a high-velocity jet of liquid carrying particles of abrasive material toward a workpiece to rapidly erode portions of the workpiece
Implementation Method 3
wet abrasive material is reused multiple times by circulating it from a catcher back to the cutting head
Data Source
AI summary
An abrasive waterjet system in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology includes a cutting head, a catcher downstream from the cutting head, and a conveyance configured to carry slurry including abrasive material and liquid collected from the catcher toward the cutting head. The cutting head includes a jet-forming orifice and a mixing chamber downstream from the jet-forming orifice. The cutting head also includes a slurry inlet through which the mixing chamber receives slurry including abrasive material and liquid collected from the catcher. The abrasive waterjet system can be configured for substantially closed-loop recycling of wet abrasive material. This can be useful, for example, to increase abrasive material utilization efficiency and to decrease abrasive material disposal costs. These and/or other benefits may be realized both in the context of low pressure abrasive waterjet systems and in the context of high pressure abrasive waterjet systems.