The Water Mist Secondary (WMS™) technology allows the plasma cutting of nonferrous materials using nitrogen and water. The use of normal tap water notably reduces production prices, with remarkable results on a very wide range of thicknesses.
- Cutting non-ferrous materials, especially stainless steel and aluminum, has always been a cutting challenge. Because of the cutting precision and production prices, the most commonly used technologies for cutting these materials are plasma, water jet, and laser.
- In the plasma cutting field, the non-ferrous materials middle-high thickness are normally cut using nitrogen, or more common with H35 (Ar/H2 mix with 35% Hydrogen), and it guarantees good qualitative results but with high costs. For small thickness compressed air, nitrogen or mixtures of nitrogen and hydrogen are used, with different results.
- The WMS™ process uses nitrogen as the plasma gas while water is used as the secondary gas (shield gas). The water in the torch is divided into its principal components (hydrogen and oxygen) during the cutting process. The hydrogen creates a reduced atmosphere in the cutting zone, isolating it from contaminating elements, and producing a clean, dross-free and oxide-free cut surface. The main amount of the water used during the process (from 4 to 8 GPH) is converted to principal components and thereby does not require the need for disposal.