Air knives improve efficiency for natural stone cutting and handling

The Problem

At its Howley Park quarry near Dewsbury, Marshalls Natural Stone cut and prepare sand stone paving slabs for prestigious projects such as areas of Trafalgar Square, Albert Docks and Park Lane.

The cutting process of natural-stone paving slabs, involves the use of copious amounts of water which is required to lubricate the diamond cutting blade, clean the cut and to prevent the generation of dust. The subsequent operations of handling and secondary processing demand that this water is removed.  Prior to ACI’s involvement, removing this water was a manual operation using a squeegee.

The Solution

The installation of ACI air knives avoids potential shortcomings in the manual operation to ensure effective moisture removal. This in turn reduces maintenance on vacuum lifting systems, such as frequent emptying of water collection reservoirs on the power units. It also minimises the risk of steel shot used for blasting non-slip and decorative finishes adhering to the slabs and causing rust stains.

The Outcome

“The air knives are very effective. After discovering ACI’s air knives on-line I contacted the company and we were given one on trial to prove its effectiveness. We now have two installed at this plant and are having others installed on other sites where they are impatient to get them installed.” Andy Reed, Maintenance Manager.

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Air Knife Systems

ACI Air Knife Systems are blower-driven solutions that increase production efficiencies and save you significant running costs. Our air knife systems have a uniform slot design that projects an uninterrupted sheet of precisely controlled, high velocity air – thereby supplying a powerful flow across the entire surface of the product being processed.