Surface World March 2019 SW_March_2019_LR | Page 58

PRE-TREATMENT, SURFACE PREPARATION, DEGREASING & CLEANING
Vapour Degreasing –
The Answer to Cleaner Components
The perfect fi nish is
crucial when it comes
to producing quality
components. Achieving
the correct surface is
fundamental to further
processes like coating,
adhesion, plating or
simply to improve the fi nal
appearance. One way to
produce a good quality
fi nish is through critical
cleaning parts with vapour
degreasing.
When it comes to critical cleaning parts,
finding a long-term process that works effectively and adapts to
changing requirements is the ideal. Even the smallest amount of
surface contaminant whether it’s oil, grease, adhesives, fingerprints
or other particulate, can impair a finishing method and result in
parts not functioning reliably.
Critical cleaning is becoming more of a challenge due to the
increasing use of miniaturised parts and complex geometries.
Smaller components have tighter tolerances, which brings increased
complications when manufacturing and finishing. To perform as
they should, intricate components must be precision cleaned. This,
however, can be a difficult process to navigate when adding in factors
like hard to clean residue, cost implications or the ever-changing
environmental restrictions and workplace safety rules being placed
on companies today.
A method that is re-gaining acceptance as a comprehensive and
effective cleaning process is vapour degreasing. Vapour degreasers
are a closed-loop system that require two elements: a specially
designed cleaning machine, and a specific low-boiling non-
flammable fluid as the cleaning agent. Vapour degreasers contain
two chambers: the boil sump and the rinse sump. In the boil sump,
the solvent is heated, and the parts are immersed and cleaned in
the fluid. Once cleaned, the parts are mechanically transferred
to the rinse sump for final rinse in a pure, uncontaminated fluid.
The parts come out clean, dry, spot-free and immediately ready for
the next step in the process or packaging.
The cleaning fluids used within the system have multiple chemical
properties that are advantageous to critical cleaning. For example,
they typically have a low surface tension and a very low viscosity,
allowing them to easily penetrate and clean very tight spaces like
blind holes and under the smallest of parts.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 58
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MARCH 2019
read online: www.surfaceworld.com