How to Determine the Length of Time you can Sandblast before Running out of Sandblast Media

Reloading your sandblast pot is a time consuming process. However, large pots are excessively heavy. When you are working in the field sandblasting it is important then to determine approximately how long you will be able to continually blast before running out of media. You will want to weigh the desire for long continuous blasting with the maneuverability and pot size. To figure this out you will need a few key pieces of information. First, we need the abrasive cubit feet an hour and second the amount of time you wish to blast. To find abrasive cubic feet an hour you reference the following chart based on nozzle size and pressure.

*Courtesy of Clemco Industries

After determining the amount of media used in an hour you can then determine how long you want to blast. If your goal is 30 minutes and your nozzle size/ pressure will consume 11.52 cubic feet an hour of media you would need a six cubit foot blast pot to blast 30 minutes before reload. However, if you used a smaller nozzle like a ¼” nozzle for example you would only need a 3 cubit foot blast pot to sandblast for 30 minutes. With this chart, you can best determine the correct sandblast pot you need to maintain production for a desired amount of time before stopping to reload.