Laser Rust Removal - For Tanks?

[geoff w]

There's a video making the rounds on the Internet over the last couple of weeks showing an industrial application with a 1,000 watt CO2 laser removing rust without taking out any of the underlying metal. Apparently the rust absorbs enough energy from the laser to heat it to a plasma, but any bare metal just reflects the laser. From everything I've been able to find it looks legit. Any laser experts here? Or anyone ever hear of this as a method for removing rust inside steel tanks instead of tumbling? It does sound too good to be true, except for the cost today

 

[gypsyjim]

I have been watching that video myself. I'd bet it's price right now would be a bit prohibitive.

I'd love to play with it. I use jewelry welding laser, and it does cut through crud pretty effectively, as dark colors absorb the energy, while lighter, polished surfaces reflect it. I can "tune" the laser, to fit particular metals, as I'm assuming this one is tuned.
If you know the metal, and what energy settings will begin to melt it, you can adjust settings lower than that point...

BUT....

I do use a technique of darkening a highly reflective metal, such as Silver, or high Karat Gold with a Sharpie, so that energy will be absorbed, rather than reflected. This allows the laser energy to melt the metal. I have to assume that this is also going to be a factor you need to understand, when you use that corrosion removing laser...the energy WILL be absorbed by the top layer of darkened metal, and some metal would be vaporized.

Just my random thoughts, based on my experience as a laser welder in a jewelry repair setting.

 

[JohnnyC]

The model used in the video that's making the rounds is close to half a million dollars. You could buy an awful lot of new cylinders.....

 

[Docmickey]

I have been watching that video myself. I'd bet it's price right now would be a bit prohibitive.

I'd love to play with it. I use jewelry welding laser, and it does cut through crud pretty effectively, as dark colors absorb the energy, while lighter, polished surfaces reflect it. I can "tune" the laser, to fit particular metals, as I'm assuming this one is tuned.
If you know the metal, and what energy settings will begin to melt it, you can adjust settings lower than that point...

BUT....

I do use a technique of darkening a highly reflective metal, such as Silver, or high Karat Gold with a Sharpie, so that energy will be absorbed, rather than reflected. This allows the laser energy to melt the metal. I have to assume that this is also going to be a factor you need to understand, when you use that corrosion removing laser...the energy WILL be absorbed by the top layer of darkened metal, and some metal would be vaporized.

Just my random thoughts, based on my experience as a laser welder in a jewelry repair setting.

• Low Power: Ideal for the treatment of small areas:
  CL 12 / CL 20 / CL 40 / CL 50 / CL 100,
  CL 20 Backpack
  
• Mid Power: Suitable for a wide-range of industrial applications:
  CL 150 / CL 300 / CL 400 / CL 500
• High Power: For production intensive and large-area applications:
  CL 1000
• Workstations: Flexible designs adapted for the application
• Special systems: Customized special designs
  
• Robot guided systems: Semi or fully automated
• Gantry systems: Surface treatment of extensive parts

 

[pinshootr]

looks a tad bit big to fit inside the cylinder

 

[The Chairman]

Yeah, it looks awesome. Too bad it's not readily available and cheap enough to afford.

 

[lucca brassi]

Probably - purely technical point of view, diving tanks rusting even more due to thermal surface treatment, but it is also true that this area is likely to smoother which means that due to the smaller surface roughness is less and less surface area available for the formation of rust.
Easy it would be to do the test and put the sample in a climatic chamber.

In our company do a lot of work with oxygen plasma cleaning ( bonding plastic, metals , cleaning surface of different materials ( for instance delrin is hydrophobic on water , after cleaning with plasma it water easy made surface completely wet , and also you can glue POM with almost ordinary glue ) so plasma and laser are very similar but plasma is pulsed energy and made micro dots on the surface on the other side plasma is more continuous like digital vs analog )

PS. : type of laser must be selected according to the material to be machined ; therefore, all the materials can not be processed in the same way - for cleaning