Specific Applications of Industrial Cleaning Agents
I. Removing Dirt and Impurities, Improving Production Efficiency
In industrial manufacturing, cleaning is a crucial step, affecting not only product quality and safety but also production efficiency and the improvement of the working environment. Industrial cleaning agents can achieve various cleaning effects, which will be detailed below.
1. Surface Cleaning: Industrial cleaning agents thoroughly remove dirt, oil stains, and impurities from surfaces such as machines, equipment, pipes, and utensils. By removing surface dirt, the original material and appearance of the object can be restored, while improving its corrosion resistance and lifespan.
2. Deep Cleaning: Compared to ordinary surface cleaning, industrial cleaning agents can penetrate into the tiny crevices and pores of the object's surface, achieving deep cleaning. This effectively removes hard-to-reach dirt and impurities, improving the cleanliness and usability of the object.
3. Corrosion Protection: Industrial cleaning agents remove oxides, rust, and corrosion products from the surface of objects, thus providing corrosion protection. By cleaning and removing corrosion products, the lifespan of objects can be extended, the frequency of maintenance and replacement can be reduced, and production costs can be lowered.
4. Enhanced Workpiece Precision: For high-precision workpieces, such as mechanical parts and optical instruments, industrial cleaning agents can remove oil stains, dirt, and oxides generated during processing, thereby improving the precision and smoothness of the workpiece and enhancing its performance.
5. Increased Production Efficiency: Using industrial cleaning agents can shorten cleaning time and increase cleaning efficiency. This helps reduce downtime and manpower input during production, thus increasing production efficiency.
6. Improved Working Environment: Industrial cleaning agents can remove dirt and impurities from object surfaces, reduce dust and odors in the air, thereby improving the working environment. A clean and tidy working environment can improve employee morale and productivity.
II. Types of Industrial Cleaning Agents
1. Water-Based Cleaning Agents: Water-based cleaning agents are formulated primarily with chemically synthesized surfactants and have strong detergency. It is widely used for cleaning oil stains on hard surfaces such as metals, plastics, rubber, ceramics, stone, and cement. The cleaning agent also contains various additives, which give it different performance characteristics, such as: acidity/alkalinity (reflected by pH value), rust prevention, rust removal, scale removal, oil removal, carbon removal, emulsification, and wetting ability. Water-based cleaning agents have various application methods. Industrially, they are generally used for manual scrubbing, immersion cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, spray cleaning machines, and manual spray gun cleaning. Heating is generally required for use; higher temperatures allow the cleaning agent to better exert its oil-removing and scale-removing properties. The application method of the cleaning agent is usually designed by the customer based on the needs of the object being cleaned. As a cleaning agent supplier, we can only select suitable cleaning agents to help customers solve their problems. So how do you choose the right water-based cleaning agent? First, you need to understand the performance characteristics of the cleaning agent, and then select the product based on the customer's process characteristics, workpiece material, type of dirt, and cleaning requirements. For example: For steel parts, the rust-preventing properties of the cleaning agent need to be considered; for aluminum parts, the corrosiveness of the cleaning agent needs to be considered; and for copper parts, the anti-discoloration ability of the cleaning agent needs to be considered. Spraying processes require consideration of the foaming issue of the cleaning agent. When the oil stains are heavy, the cleaning power and durability of the cleaning agent need to be considered. Other factors include environmental friendliness, odor, and effects on human health.
2. Organic Solvent-Based Cleaning Agents Common organic solvents include petroleum hydrocarbon solvents, halogenated hydrocarbon solvents, and alcohol, ester, and ether solvents. Petroleum hydrocarbon solvents often use high-purity hydrocarbon solvents, referred to as "hydrocarbons" in Japanese sources. Commonly used are straight-chain or branched alkanes with 16 or fewer carbon atoms. Their characteristics include low odor, strong cleaning power, and no corrosion to metal materials; disadvantages include flammability, safety concerns, high boiling point, and slow drying. Aromatic hydrocarbons containing benzene rings have been abandoned due to their high toxicity. Halogenated hydrocarbon solvents are short-chain halogenated hydrocarbons, such as dichloromethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, F113, 141B, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene. These solvents are characterized by being non-flammable, having low boiling points, evaporating quickly, drying rapidly, and possessing strong cleaning power. Their disadvantages include high toxicity, strong odor, ozone layer depletion, and long decomposition half-lives (some reaching thousands of years in the atmosphere), posing a significant threat to human health and leading to their widespread ban. Alcohol, ester, ketone, and ether solvents also have good cleaning properties when used alone, and depending on their structure, they can be used to clean different types of dirt. Due to their low flash points and flammability, they are increasingly being replaced by other cleaning agents for safety reasons. However, they are increasingly being used as additives in water-based and solvent-based cleaning agents. The application methods for solvent-based cleaning agents are not significantly different from water-based ones, with differences mainly in specific process equipment design and operation, such as considering the explosion-proof nature of the equipment and a good ventilation system. Solvent-based cleaning agents are effective at dissolving and cleaning animal, vegetable, and mineral oils, but less effective at cleaning inorganic dirt such as dust. When selecting solvent-based cleaning agents, the primary consideration should be product safety, followed by the product's adaptability to the customer's process, such as the customer's drying method, drying temperature, and solvent recovery equipment parameters.
3. Microemulsion Cleaning Agents: Microemulsion cleaning agents are transparent cleaning agents (when opaque, they are called emulsions) made by dispersing water-insoluble solvents and water in the form of microparticles using surfactants. Water dispersed in oil is called a water-in-oil emulsion, and oil dispersed in water is called an oil-in-water emulsion. The smaller the dispersed particles, the more stable the system. Microemulsion cleaning agents combine the characteristics of water-based and solvent-based cleaning agents, and are used in situations where water-based or solvent-based cleaning agents alone cannot solve the problem. Microemulsion cleaning agents are generally used undiluted at room temperature for cleaning heavier stains, often employing scrubbing or ultrasonic cleaning; spray cleaning is less common.