Renewable Energy Through Hydroelectric Power
RP Abrasives (RPA) currently occupies 16,000 square feet of space in an industrial complex that once housed a leading manufacturer of specialty papers. This group of buildings consisting of a very large main building, that RPA shares space in, and smaller buildings, both attached and unattached, have been here on this site in some form since 1886.
One of the biggest factors that attracted RPA to this building is that all the electricity for the building complex is derived from the river that flows through it. When the building was originally built the owners also built a dam creating a large pond so they could build a power-generating plant to provide electricity to the buildings, this pond is also now used for recreation by the homes built around it. This renewable energy helps RPA maintain a very stable cost structure as well as keeping us running through those rough New England winters when others are losing power.
Hydroelectricity is absolutely in line with RPA’s stewardship goals of low environmental impact and assisting the community.
LED Lighting Program
RP Abrasives has recently replaced our high-performance fluorescent lighting with more efficient LED lights to further lessen our electric impact. By making this change, we’ve confirmed that the newer LED lights are producing more light with less than half of the electricity used by fluorescent bulbs.
Environmentally-Friendly Passivation
RP Abrasives passivates using a citric acid-based passivation formula which also helps to reduce our environmental impact. We have 3 different passivation lines all using environmentally friendly citric acid. The main line consists of 7 ultrasonic tanks that measure 15”x 21”x 12” deep. Then there are 2 larger passivation lines that do not consist of ultrasonic tanks. One is 5 tanks measuring 42”x 18”x 10” deep while the second non-ultrasonic line consists of round tanks measuring 34” in dia. X 12” deep.
RPA’s blast capabilities consist of 4 automated blast cabinets or tumble blasters, 3 pressure blast cabinets, 7 suction blast cabinets all of various sizes along 2 micro blast cabinets sometimes referred to as pencil blast cabinets for a total of 16 blast cabinets. All this air usage is covered by a series of 4 Kaiser Air compressors with air drying capacity to run all the units at once.
RPA’s tumble capabilities consist of 6 high energy tumblers of various sizes along with 8 vibratory tumblers: 6 bowls of various sizes and two 5 cubic ft tubs. Finally, RPA has a buffing and polishing capacity that consists of 7 buffing jacks of various sizes, 3 belt sanders, 2 downdraft tables with various air tools for deburring or DA sanding of parts and an 11 by 17-foot clean room.
Let the Experts at RPA Find the Right Surfacing Solution You Need!
So if you have a surface finish problem, or are just looking for the ideal mechanical surface finish before plating or anodizing, RPA can happily handle any of your metal and plastic surfacing needs in an environmentally responsible manner.