Internal Pipe Sandblasting Machine

An internal pipe sandblasting machine cleans the bore of steel pipe before welding, coating or internal lining.

Compressed air drives abrasive through a nozzle carried on a lance that enters the pipe. The pipe turns on rollers while the lance travels along its axis, so the bore is cleaned over its full circumference and its full length without a man working inside.

The QGN range covers bore diameters from φ50 mm to φ1,500 mm in four models; larger bores and non-standard pipe lengths are engineered to order. This machine treats the internal surface only. It does not touch the outer wall, and it is a surface preparation machine — it cleans and profiles, it does not shot peen.

How an Internal Pipe Sandblasting Machine Works

Three things happen at once.

Feeding and rotation. Pipe is carried in on rollers or set in fixtures to the working station. The pipe turns while the lance feeds, and rotation is what makes a single nozzle sufficient for a full 360°. Rotation speed and lance travel are set against the bore and the grade required, so coverage is complete rather than nominal.

Blasting through the bore. Compressed air carries abrasive from the feed system through a hose to a nozzle at the end of the lance. The lance enters the pipe and travels along the axis; the pipe turns on rollers beneath it. Rotation covers the circumference, lance travel covers the length, and it is the pair of movements together that produces full coverage.

Stand-off matters more here than on any external machine. A nozzle set at a constant distance from the bore wall delivers an even profile the whole way down. The further the nozzle sits from the surface, the wider the jet spreads and the softer it cuts. On internal work that distance is fixed by the lance rather than by an operator's reach, and that is the mechanical reason an internal result repeats from pipe to pipe while a hand-lanced one does not.

Abrasive recovery and dust extraction. Spent abrasive falls to the bottom of the bore and is drawn back through the recovery system, separated from dust and fines, and returned to the feed. Dust goes to a cartridge dust collector. Because the work happens inside a confined space, extraction is not a comfort feature here — it is the condition that makes continuous operation possible at all, and the condition that keeps the operator out of the pipe.

What the Machine Buys You

Access, not force. The bore is the one surface an external blasting machine cannot reach. No amount of power applied from the outside substitutes for getting abrasive to the inside wall.

Repeatable stand-off. Lance-mounted blasting holds the nozzle at a fixed distance from the bore wall down the whole length. The failure mode on internal work is a clean mouth and a dull middle; constant stand-off is what removes it.

No pickling. No acid, no rinse water, no spent liquor to treat. For line pipe this is usually the argument that decides the project in Europe.

Abrasive economy. Closed-loop recovery with separation before reuse keeps consumption down in continuous running.

Sits in line. The machine can be placed upstream of the coating, lining or welding station, so cleaned pipe goes on without an intermediate handling step and without re-oxidising on the yard.

Wear parts you can plan for. The consumables are nozzles, lance tubes, abrasive hose and abrasive valves — all defined-interval items, all held as spares for export customers.

QGN Series: Models and Bore Diameters