What are Remote Control Valves, and how are they utilised on a blast pot?

25th Jul 2023

Remote control valves are components used to control the flow, temperature, pressure of a system. Remote control valves are paired with a "controller" that dictates said system's "flow rate". There are many types of these valves, and the opening and closing action can be done through electrical, hydraulic, or pneumatic signalling. Moreover, the type of valve will depend on other variables like the pressure the system operates in, pipe size, flowing media etc.

At Airblast we use air-actuated or "pneumatic" remote-control valve on our blast machine's and they control the units pressurisation, abrasive velocity and is utilised within a greater "Deadman" system. Airline connections from the remote-control valve span the length of the blast hose. At the blasts hose's nozzle end sits a "Deadman" handle which the airlines connect to, and once depressed, completes a circuit connection sending a signal back to the blast machine. The blast machine pressurises once the signal is received, and abrasive is ejected out of the blast nozzle. If the circuit connection is broken, the blast pot depressurises, and the air is exhausted from the pressure vessel into the atmosphere.

All our redline blast machines are fitted with this system as standard.