Challenges and Trends
The details above illustrate how extremely complex this specific field is. Already small changes in the requirements can necessitate completely different processes. Thus it defies scientific technical determination. On the other hand it becomes more and more important to receive the required degree of cleanliness as cost-effective as possible and with continuously minimised health and environmental risks, because cleaning has become of central importance for the supply chain in manufacturing. Applying companies usually rely on their suppliers, who—due to a big experience base—suggest adequate equipment and processes, which are then adapted to the detailed requirements in tests stations at the supplier’s premises. However they are limited to their scope of technology. To put practitioners in a position to consider all relevant possibilities meeting their requirements, some institutes have developed different tools:
SAGE: Unfortunately no longer in operation the comprehensive expert system for parts cleaning and degreasing provided a graded list with relatively general processes of possible solvent and process alternatives. Developed by the Surface Cleaning Programme at the Research Triangle Institute, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, in cooperation with the U.S. EPA (used to be available under: http://clean.rti.org/).
Cleantool: A ‘Best Practice’ database in seven languages with comprehensive and specific processes, directly recorded in companies. It contains furthermore an integrated evaluation tool, which covers the areas technology, quality, health and safety at work, environmental protection as well as costs. Also included is a comprehensive glossary (seven languages, link see below).
Bauteilreinigung: A selection system for component cleaning developed by the University of Dortmund, assisting the users to analyse their cleaning tasks with regard to the suitable cleaning processes and cleaning agents (German only, link see below).
TURI, Toxic Use Reduction Institute: A department of the University of Lowell, Massachusetts (USA). TURI's laboratory has been conducting evaluations on alternative cleaning products since 1993. A majority of these products were designed for metal surface cleaning. The results of these tests are available on-line through the Institute’s laboratory database (English only, link see below).
Read more about this topic: Parts Cleaning
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