Steel Pipe Shot Blasting Machine with customizable settings for various pipe diameters and lengths improving productivity

This dedicated shot blasting machine is specially built to clean, derust and strengthen the inner walls of steel pipes. Unlike standard external shot blasters, it features a purpose-built blasting structure that delivers steel shot, steel grit and other abrasives inside pipes. It perfectly solves the processing challenges for long, large-diameter and thick-walled steel pipe cavities, and is essential equipment for manufacturing oil, gas, water supply, drainage and structural steel pipelines.

Typical models & Specification

The machine is equipped with a specialized internal shot blasting system, which is the core of its ability to treat steel pipe inner walls, with the following characteristics:

• Central blast lance design:A long blasting lance is positioned along the central axis of the steel pipe, fitted with multiple directional nozzles at regular intervals. As the lance rotates and moves back and forth axially, high-speed abrasives spray from the nozzles to fully cover the entire inner wall, including hard-to-access pipe ends and weld seams.
• Adaptability to different pipe specifications: We can customize the blast lance length and nozzle quantity to match steel pipes with lengths of 3m to 20m and diameters of 50mm to 2000mm. Compact lances fitted with fine nozzles are adopted for small-diameter pipes, while heavy-duty lances with high-flow nozzles are used for large-diameter pipes to guarantee consistent blasting strength.
• Adjustable movement speed:The lance’s axial travel speed and rotational speed can be regulated separately. We slow down both speeds to prolong blasting time for pipes with heavy internal rust. For workpieces with light oxide scale in mass production, higher speeds are set to boost overall productivity..

Aimed at the common contaminants on steel pipe inner walls (rust, oxide scale, welding slag, oil residues, and cementitious deposits), the machine has the following cleaning capabilities:

• Compliance with strict cleaning standards: It can achieve Sa2.5–Sa3 level surface cleaning (international standard for steel surface treatment). After treatment, the inner wall of the steel pipe is free of visible rust, oxide scale, and other contaminants, with a uniform rough surface, which provides an ideal base for subsequent processes such as anti-corrosion coating, cement lining, or plastic coating.
• Adjustable shot blasting intensity: Blasting intensity can be precisely regulated by tuning the pressure and material flow of the abrasive delivery system. Low blasting intensity is applied to thin-walled steel pipes to prevent wall abrasion. For thick-walled pipes such as high-pressure oil pipelines, high intensity is used to remove tough scale and reinforce inner surfaces.
• Treatment of special pipe types: The machine processes not only straight steel pipes, but also slightly bent pipes and pipe sections with welds. Thanks to the flexibly connected blast lance, it can accommodate small-angle bends and deliver effective cleaning to inner walls of curved segments.

This machine features a closed-loop internal abrasive recycling system, which effectively resolves the difficulty of abrasive recovery inside confined steel pipe cavities.

• Negative pressure collection + mechanical conveying: Post-blasting abrasives, dust and residues are extracted from pipe ends via negative pressure suction, then delivered to the separator by a screw conveyor. Combining air classification and screening, the unit recycles usable abrasives with a separation efficiency over 90% and separates out waste and dust.
• Low-dust operation: Equipped with high-efficiency cartridge or bag dust collectors, the system captures over 99.5% of process dust. With dust emission below 20mg/m³, it complies with stringent workshop environmental standards and eliminates on-site dust pollution.
• Abrasive loss reduction: Compared with open-type blasting equipment, the closed recycling loop cuts abrasive loss by over 60%, delivering substantial cost savings for mass pipe production.

To match the internal shot blasting process, the machine is configured with a specialized steel pipe clamping and conveying system:

• Dual-roller or three-roller positioning: The steel pipe is stably clamped by multiple groups of driving rollers, which drive the pipe to rotate slowly during the shot blasting process. This cooperation with the moving blast lance ensures that every part of the inner wall is evenly impacted by the abrasive media.
• Adjustable clamping force: The clamping force can be adjusted according to the pipe diameter and wall thickness to avoid deformation of thin-walled pipes during clamping and ensure stable rotation of heavy thick-walled pipes.
• Integration with production lines: It can be seamlessly connected to the steel pipe welding line, coating line, and cutting line, realizing automated loading, positioning, shot blasting, unloading, and transfer, and reducing manual intervention.

Today’s advanced internal pipe shot blasting machines come with an intelligent control system featuring the functions below:

• Parameter preset and storage: Operators can configure and save parameters such as lance travel speed, rotation speed, abrasive flow rate and clamping force for different pipe specifications. Saved settings support one-touch startup for recurring batches, keeping processing quality uniform.
• Real-time monitoring and fault alarm: The system continuously monitors the blast lance, abrasive recycling system and dust collector. It automatically stops the machine and activates an alarm upon detecting lance jams, abrasive blockages or dust collector overload, reducing equipment damage and maintenance time.
• Safety interlock protection: Fitted with door interlocks, pressure protection and emergency stop switches, the unit will shut down immediately if access doors are opened during operation, fully safeguarding on-site personnel.