About Aquablast
Aquablast Ltd was established in 1987 at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England in response to demand from major oil exploration companies like BP, Perenco, Conoco and Shell for environmentally-friendly surface preparation techniques.
Over 30 years later Aquablast’s reputation for solving unusual surface preparation and material separation problems is as well known as its ability to respond rapidly and deliver cost-effective results.
Aquablast pioneered the use of Ultra High Pressure (UHP) water blasting at operating pressures over 35,000 psi in the UK North Sea offshore oil and gas industry. Damage and pollution from dry abrasive blasting systems was a major problem on offshore oil and gas installations and the UHP water surface preparation technique, which could expose the original blast profile to white metal standard, went on to become an industry standard. Today, Aquablast operates routinely with 55,000 psi UHP waterjet pressure (3,800 bar), the highest pressure in commercial use anywhere which can deal with virtually any material separation requirement.
The company has years of experience and low staff turnover with an exemplary safety record which has seen it emerge as:
- a skilled specialist in abrasive waterjet “cold cutting” onshore and offshore;
- decontamination application tool provider for the nuclear industry;
- the ‘go-to’ operator for steel superyacht and megayacht hull and superstructure preparation;
- the solution provider for ‘impossible’ heavy-duty clean-up problems;
- exclusive operator of the ‘Octopus’ remote controlled vertical and inverted 55,000 psi UHP delivery vehicle;
- designer and manufacturer of the ‘Aquablaster’ dust-free wet abrasive system – in use worldwide on land and sea;
- assembly specialist for waterjet systems based on KAMAT and Jet Edge platforms; sole UK supplier of Jetedge precision UHP abrasive waterjet cutting tables;
- developer of the award-winning ‘Recyclatrack’ process for total recycling of end-of-life rubber excavator tracks – see www.recyclatrack.com;
Aquablast has designed and manufactured a series of surface preparation systems and application tools intended to reduce environmental impact and make blasting and re-coating activities more efficient. The company has twice won UK Department of Trade and Industry “SMART” awards (Small Firms Awards for Research and Technology) and a sequence of innovative projects have received funding from EU grant programmes, WRAP (DEFRA’s Waste Resource Action Programme) and Innovate UK (formerly Technology Strategy Board).
The Aquablaster system of low volume wet abrasive blasting has provided a low-cost eco-friendly solution where the creation of a new surface profile is essential.
Aquablaster has wide operating parameters and can be used on anything from the heaviest coatings applied to steel to work as delicate as cleaning old timber or soft stonework to removing gel coats from glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) or steel boat hulls.
The major paint manufacturers have endorsed all Aquablast waterjet-based surface preparation techniques and pictorial references for both preparation standards and flash rust allowances are now widely available from the paint manufacturers and the industry professional organisations.
Aquablast is a UK distributor for KAMAT Pumps of Witten, Germany, and is licensed to assemble and service the wide range of triplex and quintuplex plunger pumps which KAMAT have produced since 1974.
The company is the exclusive installer and technical support provider in UK for Jet Edge’s stunning series of UHP intensifier pumps operating at pressures up to 85,000 psi (5,800 bar). Jetedge’s X-5 precision cutting system, utilising the X-Stream 85,000 psi fluid intensifier, is a state-of-the-art 5-axis waterjet cutting masterpiece — see www.jetedge.com
Contact us or look in more detail at our range of services.
