fluidized sand bed parts cleaner?

[Bax]

I was watching Smash lab on the discovery channel yesterday and they had a fluidized sand bed parts cleaner. It looked like a 5 gallon bucket full of sand with a air supply hooked up to it. I think it would be a interesting alternative to sand blasting but I can't find any info about them.

I was thinking about just building one and seeing if it worked at all.

I googled and checked enco. has anyone ever heard of one of these?

Thanks

[PTSchram]

Got lots of $?

The fluidized bed requires lots of heat to make it work. I worked for a company that had huge fluidized bed cleaners. They were heated by natural gas.

They are also really fawking dangerous. The beds are heated really hot. Any water will cause the bed to erupt with violence.

[Bax]

the one they had on the show didn't have a heater just sand and air. I am trying to find a link to a video of the show.

[PTSchram]

If it was fluidized bed, it was superheated.

By definition, a fluidized bed is heated to extremely high temps.

[arbo]

If it was fluidized bed, it was superheated.

By definition, a fluidized bed is heated to extremely high temps.

I'm with Bax on this one. This thing wasn't heated. There was a guy standing in it, and when they applied the air, he sank to his knees in a split second.

[Bax]

oh. Like I said I had never heard of it before. they upscaled it with only compressed air and play sand and made it swallow a ford ranger. I don't think the Parts cleaner they had was heated since he put his hand in it when it was running.

They have the full episodes on http://video.discovery.com/#
smash lab, Fluidized sand

The cleaner is the very first thing they show

[PTSchram]

OK, the one that was in use at Phelps Dodge's Hopkinsville, KY plant was about 16X 30 and was heated to around 500'C. In order to achieve a fluidized bed, heat is critical.

http://www.procedyne.com/fbtech.htm

[Bax]

Ok I found one that looks like the one they used. It does have heat (they must have not turned it on)

http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref=FSB

Holy crap 2 grand is really pricey.

Do you guys think it is possible to build one and would it work w/o heat?

[300sniper]

what about a vibratory cleaner? that may work like what you are thinking and be cheaper. there was a build up of one on cnc zone that used a plastic 55 gallon drum for the container. it could be built on the cheap.

[bgaidan]

I would think the amount of continuous air required would be the expensive part...

[DSW]

Sounds like a vibratory / ultrasonic cleaner. We used to deburr, clean parts in an old concrete mixer. Filled it with sand, alum oxide chips, or small stone, put the parts in and let them spin for a while. Giant rock tumbler. I use a similar method to clean the inside of steel tanks. I fill them 2/3's full of alum oxide chips a little water and some simple green to break down any oils, cap and put on a rotating roller for 18-24 hrs. Insides polish up real nice, all the old rust is gone.