The MONTI MBX Bristle Blaster is a mean green beast when it comes to removing the coating, mill scale, and protective coatings that have to go. Instead of using grit blasting, the MONTI MBX uses rotating bristles that are dynamically tuned. The bristles immediately retract when they come into contact with any surface, ensuring a smooth and grit-like blast. Designed to mimic the kinetic energy of traditional sandblasting, the MBX creates a clean surface similar to NACE 2 or SSPC-SP 10.
While the MBX doesn’t produce the spent shot blasting associated with grit blasting, there are some drawbacks. The MBX (in its current form) takes slightly longer to properly clean a surface than comparable grit blasters and the replacement bristles are still fairly expensive. In addition, while it effectively profiles most surfaces, some contractors note that they’ve had trouble profiling the hardened cut edges of steel plates.
ExxonMobil has recently started to use the MBX on its offshore rigs to clean steel surfaces. While this type of surface prep is relatively expensive, it will be interesting to see if MONTI can improve the design and lower the cost with future versions of their product. As this technology progresses, will coaters begin to switch to bristle blasters? Only time will tell, but for the present, the MBX represents one big step forward for the environmentally conscious coater.
MONTI has an excellent eBook on how their bristle blaster works. It takes a while to load, but if you’re interested, you can check it out here.
MONTI MBX & EonCoat can make a great environmentally friendly 1, 2 punch.
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