Blueacre Technology
leaning is a large part of
many industrial processes.
Whether it is to remove rust
from steel components or
carbonised polymer mate-
rial from molds, cleaning is a consumable
and manpower intensive operation that
has not evolved much over the previous
decades.
C
A new method for cleaning has been de-
veloped that utilises laser light to vaporize
surface contaniments, providing a cost
efficient, non-consumable alternative to
chemicals or abrasive material.
Laser cleaning is the process by which
coatings, debris or impurities (e.g. rust,
carbon, silicon and rubber) are removed
from the surface of a material by using
laser irradiation. At the core of laser clean-
ing is a non-contact process, which is fast
becoming the go to solution is industries
ranging from automotive to aerospace
and pharmaceutical to agri-food. Blueacre
Technology’s laser cleaning process is
based on very powerful, short laser pulses
that interact with the surface of the materi-
al to selectively remove the contamination
layer, be it rust, carbon, organic material
or paint.
As the laser interacts with the surface
in two ways. Firstly, it is absorbed by
the contaminant material, causing it to
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vaporise and sublimate from the surface.
Secondly, it sets up a localised shock wave
on the surface, which shakes contaminate
material free. This dual action process,
allows laser cleaning to be used on a range
of materials with high efficiency.
Conventional cleaning techniques are
either chemical based or utilise abrasive
media to blast the contamination away.
Both these methods require a high degree
of preparation, such as masking, and
require continuous replenishment of the
cleaning material.
In the case of chemical based cleaning,
post processing steps are required to
ensure no chemicals remain and with bead
blasting, significant workload is required to
clean away the abrasive media. On the oth-
er hand, laser cleaning has no consumable
cost with the laser itself requiring single
phase operation. It is highly accurate and
easy to use and will clean only where the
laser is pointed. The contamination is va-
porised and can be collected with simple
extraction systems.
The laser cleaning system developed by
Blueacre Technology is an environmentally
friendly means to remove contaminations
and coatings. No solvents, detergents
or abrasives are used and so there is no
added waste.
Laser cleaning is an economically proven
technology, where investment costs can
be recouped in 1-2 years.
Laser cleaning can be integrated into 24/7
fully automated production environments
requiring on operator interaction.
This reduces stopped lines, improves
cleaning consistency and leads to in-
creased profitability.
www.blueacretechnology.com