IFP Europe: One cleaning agent for all contaminations
“Our previous cleaning plant,” Contessa continues, “was composed of hermetic units using perchlorethylene: This resulted in various problems, from the management and maintenance of the cleaning machines to the control of the environmental impact and the high consumption of solvent. Also the loading system of the eight containers was a complication, because it slowed down the production. First of all, however, it was necessary to solve the problem of the coolant lubricant solutions that dirty our components: During processing, we use two of them, a neat oil solution and an emulsifying fl uid. The most critical aspect was fi nding a cleaning plant able to remove both fl uids with the same excellent qualitative results.”
One of the innovative features of the system developed by IFP Europe is the possibility to treat with the same machine workpieces from mechanical machining processes in which both cooling lubricant emulsions and neat oil are used. In accordance with the principle that “the like dissolves like”, aqueous cleaners are normally preferred for cleaning parts treated with emulsions, while the best results with neat oil are obtained with solvents. The ability of the designers of IFP Europe has been developing a treatment process that can deal with all types of contamination with the same cleaning agent, automatically managing also the various types of chip.
