Seawork exhibitor Charles Cleghorn is the UK distributor for the CaviBlaster from Florida-HQ’d CaviDyne; but what is this revolutionary underwater cleaning method and how does it work?
CaviBlaster machines look quite like pressure washers but they are actually quite different. They employ a technology known as ultra-cavitation for underwater cleaning using much lower pressures than conventional equipment such as pressure-washers/water-blasters, or grit blasters.
Ultra-cavitation machines use hydrodynamic cavitation, the process of vaporization, bubble generation and bubble implosion. The implosion that takes place during the cavitation process occurs in milliseconds and rapidly collapsing bubbles produce shock waves that release tremendous amounts of energy to separate marine growth from the surfaces being cleaned.
The safety feature of this technology is that elastic materials such as human skin easily absorb these shock-waves – at the same time the cavitating stream is significantly less dense compared with a regular pressure jet, thus making the CaviBlaster much safer for an operator yet remaining very effective at removing marine growth.
Ultra-cavitation, says CaviDyne, eliminates the danger associated with the use of high-pressure cleaning equipment and removes growth in less time and with better results, while costing less to operate.
The compact CaviBlaster units clean steel, concrete, wood, rubber, fibreglass or fabric, without damaging existing surfaces or surface coatings. The more powerful CaviBlaster models can even quickly clean surfaces to bare metal, stripping away heavy fouling and oxidation.
The technology is powerful enough to clean any density surface while not inflicting damage on painted ones. CaviDyne’s studies have shown that the force exerted on a diver’s arm by the instrument when cleaning is comparable to that of holding a cup of coffee.
Cavidyne has carried out independent testing of a 2,200psi CaviBlaster against a 10,000psi water pressure washer, with the CaviBlaster cleaning three times the area of marine biofouling in the same time, while not causing anywhere near as much damage to antifouling coatings.
The company supplies gasoline, diesel and electric-powered units, plus a fully submersible variant and a full range of tool heads.
