Industrial Pressure Washing Up To 4,000 bar
Industrial pressure washing is the removal of deposits, coatings and contamination using plain water at operating pressures between 300 and 4,000 bar. The process works purely mechanically, requires no chemical cleaning agents and is also known as high-pressure water jetting or hydro blasting. KAMAT has been developing and manufacturing the technology for it in Witten, Germany, since 1974: high-pressure plunger pumps with drive powers from 15 to 3,000 kW, mobile and stationary pump units, and the matching water tools, certified to ISO 9001:2015.
Which Applications Does Industrial Pressure Washing Cover?
High-pressure water removes contamination in almost every industry, from mill scale in steel plants to polymer residues in chemical processing.
Typical tasks:
- Pipe and sewer cleaning: removing deposits and blockages from pipework and sewers
- Tank cleaning: removing residues from vessels and tanks with pneumatically driven tank cleaning heads
- Heat exchanger cleaning: freeing tube bundles from lime, scale and process residues
- Well regeneration: cleaning filter gravel and well walls of incrustation
- Net cleaning: gently removing fouling from fishing nets and filter cloths
- Ship cleaning: stripping coatings and fouling from hull surfaces
- Runway cleaning: removing rubber abrasion and road marking paint
- Graffiti removal: dissolving paint from facades and vehicles without damaging the substrate
How Does Industrial Pressure Washing Work?
The water jet hits the surface with high impact and mechanically breaks the contamination away. Four factors determine the cleaning result: pump pressure, flow rate, spray distance and spray angle.
- Pump pressure: the pressure determines the exit velocity of the water and thus the impact force of the jet. The cleaning effect is controlled precisely via the pressure.
- Flow rate: the water volume per unit of time increases the impact momentum and carries the loosened dirt away. At greater distances, a high-volume jet atomizes less.
- Spray distance: 10 to 30 cm between nozzle and surface is recommended. The cleaning impact drops quickly with growing distance, while too little distance can damage sensitive surfaces.
- Spray angle: stubborn contamination requires 0 to 25 degrees, medium contamination 25 to 50 degrees, light contamination 50 to 80 degrees.
How Much Pressure Does a Cleaning Task Require?
Every type of contamination has a critical pressure at which it separates from the substrate. Simple surface cleaning works from around 300 bar, paint stripping requires roughly 2,000 bar. Once the critical pressure is reached, a higher flow rate rather than more pressure increases the cleaning rate and working speed. The modular design system from KAMAT allows pump, unit and tool to be configured exactly for this operating point and reconfigured when tasks change
What are the Advantages Over Chemical Cleaning?
The cleaning effect comes from the water jet alone. No chemicals enter the wastewater or the surroundings, and no cleaning agent residues remain on the surface. By adjusting the pressure, the same system handles stubborn scale as well as sensitive surfaces. Water and energy demand is minimized by configuring the system for the critical pressure of the specific task.
Which Equipment Does KAMAT Supply for Industrial Pressure Washing?
KAMAT supplies turnkey mobile and stationary systems including the water tools. The pump range covers eleven sizes from the K100-3 to the K300000-5G: operating pressures up to 4,000 bar, flow rates up to 10,500 l/min, drive powers from 15 to 3,000 kW. All pumps are plunger pumps with forged stainless steel pump heads and standardized spare parts across all series.
An example for mobile use is the triplex plunger pump K100-3: 25 kg weight, 15 kW drive power, up to 2,000 bar at 6.8 l/min. As a complete unit with electric, diesel or gasoline drive it handles jetting, paint stripping, rust removal and graffiti removal. For continuous operation, KAMAT provides diesel and electric KAMJET units plus water tools such as surface cleaners, the Tornado pipe cleaner, the KSP spray gun and the RotoLance rotating lance.
Get advice on industrial pressure washing
Use the Pump Finder and the Nozzle Calculator for an initial preselection, or describe your cleaning task directly via the contact form: the KAMAT engineering team will configure the right pump, unit and water tools for it
Frequently Asked Questions about Industrial Pressure Washing
Industrial pressure washing is a mechanical cleaning process in which water at pressures from 300 to 3,500 bar removes contamination, deposits, and coatings from surfaces. The process works without chemical cleaning agents and is commonly used for cleaning pipes, tanks, heat exchangers, ships, and traffic areas.
The required pressure depends on the critical pressure of the contamination. Simple surface cleaning can be performed from around 300 bar, while paint removal typically requires approximately 2,000 bar. Above the critical pressure, increasing the flow rate mainly improves cleaning speed.
Commercial pressure washers typically operate at up to 300 bar with limited flow rates. KAMAT industrial high-pressure systems reach pressures of up to 3,500 bar and flow rates of up to 10,500 l/min. They are designed for continuous industrial operation and are available as mobile or stationary systems with electric or diesel drives.
Yes. Industrial pressure washing is a purely mechanical process that uses only water and no chemical cleaning agents. As a result, no chemicals enter the wastewater and no chemical residues remain on the cleaned surfaces.
Yes. The smallest unit, the K100-3, weighs just 25 kg and delivers pressures of up to 2,000 bar. It is available as a complete mobile system with electric, diesel, or gasoline drive. Larger KAMJET units are supplied as trailer-mounted, containerized, or skid-mounted solutions depending on the application.
