Title: Aqueous cleaning of manufactured parts/components: establishing the role of solution quality

Authors: Liam Pettigrew, Long D. Nghiem

Addresses: School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia. ' School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, The University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Abstract: Parts cleaning has gradually replaced solvent based cleaning during the manufacturing of parts and in maintenance workshop as a much more sustainable and cost benefit technology. In this study, the performance of aqueous parts cleaning was evaluated using two industrial parts cleaning systems. One system was equipped with a microfilter and oil skimmer to prolong the cleaning solution lifetime and the other was a generic parts cleaning system, which was not equipped with any contaminant control devices. It appears that aqueous parts cleaning could offer a high degree of cleanliness suitable for most typical maintenance workshops. However, the cleaning equipment used was critical to successful aqueous cleaning. The use of a microfilter and oil skimmer can reduce the amount of residuals left on parts and significantly extend solution life.

Keywords: parts cleaning; water-based cleaning; aqueous cleaning; oil skimmers; microfilters; solvent replacement; maintenance workshops; manufactured parts; cleaning solution lifetime; cleaning solutions; residuals.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSM.2011.042148

International Journal of Sustainable Manufacturing, 2011 Vol.2 No.2/3, pp.127 - 140

Published online: 11 Mar 2015 *

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