Search Results for cleaning

This article describes the eight chemical cleaning methods, namely, circulation, fill and soak, cascade, foam, vapor-phase organic, steam-injected, on-line chemical, and mechanical cleaning. It presents information on deposit types, solvents used to remove them, and construction material incompatibilities in a table. The article summarizes the uses of chemical cleaning solutions, including hydrochloric acid, phosphoric acid, and sulfamic acid, as well as the additives used to neutralize their impact on corrosion. It discusses the chemical cleaning procedures, including selection of cleaning method and solvent, documentation of cleaning, and corrosion monitoring in chemical cleaning.

The necessary precursor to a proper and durable finish is the preparation of the active aluminum surface to receive the desired protective finish that will allow it to have a long and attractive service life. This article helps those who work with aluminum in the many varieties of applications of such products. It describes the two main categories of cleaning that can be used with most any metal, namely, mechanical cleaning and chemical cleaning. The article provides a discussion on the laboratory evaluation of cleaners, field testing of cleaners, and cleaner types and procedures. It also describes the special cleaning procedures for aluminum alloys, such as steam cleaning and rotary wire-brush cleaning. The article reviews the use of temporary coatings and the use of maintenance coatings on aluminum. It provides information on the handling and storage procedures of aluminum alloys and the cleaning of specific applications of aluminum.

Coating of cast irons is done to improve appearance and resistance to degradation due to corrosion, erosion, and wear. This article describes inorganic coating methods commonly applied to cast irons. The coating methods include plating, hot dip coating, conversion coating, diffusion coating, cladding, porcelain enameling, and thermal spray. Organic coatings have a wide variety of properties, but their primary use is for corrosion resistance combined with a pleasing colored appearance. The article discusses the various types of organic coatings applied to cast irons. Practically any degree of smoothness or roughness and requirement for color and gloss can be filled by organic coatings. The article describes abrasive blast cleaning, abrasive waterjet cleaning and finishing, vibratory finishing, barrel finishing, and shot peening for processing iron castings.

This article provides an overview of surface contaminants that may affect the heat treatment processes and end-product quality. It presents information on the chemicals used to clean different surface contaminants of steels. The article discusses three types of cleaning methods, namely, mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical and their effectiveness and applicability. The mechanical cleaning methods include grinding, brushing, steam or flame jet cleaning, abrasive blasting, and tumbling. Solvent cleaning, emulsion cleaning, alkaline cleaning, acid cleaning, pickling, and descaling are chemical cleaning methods. The electrochemical cleaning methods include electropolishing, electrolytic alkaline cleaning, and electrolytic pickling. The article provides information on cleanliness measurement methods such as qualitative tests and quantitative tests to ensure product quality. Health hazards that may be associated with each cleaning method and the general control measures to be used for each hazard are tabulated.

Metal surfaces must often be cleaned before subsequent operations to remove unwanted substances such as pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips and cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale, and miscellaneous contaminants. The article describes common cleaning processes, including alkaline, electrolytic, solvent, emulsion, molten salt bath, ultrasonic and acid cleaning as well as pickling and abrasive blasting. It also explains how to select the appropriate process for a given soil type and surface composition.

This article describes the basic attributes of the most widely used metal surface cleaning processes to remove pigmented drawing compounds, unpigmented oil and grease, chips, cutting fluids, polishing and buffing compounds, rust and scale from steel parts, and residues and lapping compounds from magnetic particle and fluorescent penetrant inspection. The cleaning processes include emulsion cleaning, electrolytic alkaline cleaning, acid cleaning, solvent cleaning, vapor degreasing, alkaline cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and glass bead cleaning. The article provides guidelines for choosing an appropriate process for particular applications and discusses eight well-known methods for determining the degree of cleanliness of the work surface.

Alkaline cleaning is a commonly used method for removing a wide variety of soils from the surface of metals. This article focuses on the composition, operating conditions, and test and control of alkaline cleaners, as well as equipment used and their application methods. It describes the mechanisms of alkaline cleaning, such as saponification, displacement, emulsification and dispersion, and metal oxide dissolution. The article concludes with information of the safety and environmental considerations in the usage of alkaline cleaners.

Solvent cleaning is a surface preparation process that can be accomplished in room temperature baths (cold cleaning ) or by condensing vapors of a solvent on a workpiece (vapor degreasing). This article provides a detailed discussion on solvents, equipment, process limitations and applications, and safety and health hazards of cold cleaning and vapor degreasing. It also includes information on control of contamination, conservation and recovery of solvent, and disposal of solvent wastes.

Emulsion cleaning is an industrial cleaning process that uses an organic solvent as the main active agent. This article provides information on the applications, concerns and limitations, and process parameters of emulsion cleaning. It describes the processing variables and equipment for three main stages of emulsion cleaning: immersion cleaning, secondary cleaning, and spray cleaning. In addition, the classifications, composition, and selection criteria are also discussed.

Molten salt baths are anhydrous, fused chemical baths used at elevated temperatures for a variety of industrial cleaning applications. This article discusses their applications in paint stripping, polymer removal, casting cleaning, glass removal, and plasma/flame spray removal. It provides an overview of the basic design and safety considerations of the salt bath equipment and describes the environmental impact of molten salt bath cleaning.

Ultrasonic cleaning involves the use of high-frequency sound waves that is above the upper range of human heating, or about 18 kHz, to remove a variety of contaminants from parts immersed in aqueous media. This article describes the process, design considerations and the equipment in ultrasonic cleaning. The components used in the generation of ultrasonic wave include piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers that are used in ultrasonic generators and tanks. The effects of solution type and its temperature on the effectiveness of ultrasonic cleaning are also discussed.

This article focuses on the mineral and organic acid cleaning of iron and steel. It begins with a discussion on the application methods, process selection criteria, solution composition, equipment used, and control of process variables in mineral acid cleaning. The article then describes the advantages and disadvantages of organic acid cleaning. Applications, including boiler cleaning, stainless steel cleaning, and removal of iron- and copper-bearing deposits, are discussed. The article concludes with an overview of acid cleaning of nonferrous alloys.

Mechanical cleaning systems are used to remove contaminants of work surface by propelling abrasive materials through any of these three principal methods: airless centrifugal blast blade- or vane-type wheels; compressed air, direct-pressure dry blast nozzle systems; or compressed-air, indirect-suction (induction) wet or dry blast nozzle systems. This article focuses on the abrasive media, equipment, applications, and limitations of dry and wet blast cleaning. It discusses the health and safety precautions to be taken during mechanical cleaning.