OK, I may get into trouble here, but this is a subject that I think needs some discussion. What about cleaning consultants? I know many people who are cleaning consultants and, in fact, I was one for a while myself. There are good reasons for hiring a consultant when it comes to the specification of …
Ultrasonic cleaning is widely used for removing particles from surfaces. It is generally agreed that the high energy of implosions of cavitation bubbles break the bonds holding particles to the surface being cleaned and that liquid motion (streaming) carries the particles away once they have been dislodged. However, it is also well known that ultrasonic cavitation …
Maximum ultrasonic performance requires the most efficient transfer of ultrasonic vibrations from the ultrasonic transducers to the liquid in the process tank. This is generally accomplished by applying ultrasonic transducers directly to the exterior surfaces of a tank containing the process liquid. Transducer attachment techniques favor attachment to metals like stainless steel. What if the chemistry to be used …
Most surfaces that we encounter in industrial cleaning are relatively smooth and contiguous. We have talked earlier about the difficulties of cleaning blind holes, threads, capillary spaces and other challenging configurations. The one surface we haven’t yet explored is that of a material that is itself porous. Sintered materials including metal, ceramic, glass, plastic and …
As discussed in a previous blog, one problem with watts is that watts do not equal energy. Let’s carry that thought a little further again using the vehicle analogy I put forth in the initial blog of this series. In the ultrasonic world it is common to associate the effectiveness of an ultrasonic cleaning tank its …
Over the years, there have been several anecdotal references to otherwise unexplained changes in the properties of surfaces exposed to ultrasonic energy in a liquid. In some cases, it would make sense that the change was due to increased cleanliness. In others, however, the benefit of cleanliness alone would seem questionable. One incident in particular …
Wrong! I don’t think most of us would consider using motor oil to moisten our dry skin. By the same token, we wouldn’t use body oil in our car’s engine. The notion seems to persist in the cleaning industry, however, that oil is oil. We often neglect to differentiate between oils when it comes to developing or recommending a …
When a sound wave encounters an object or discontinuity in the sound conducting medium, at least part of the sound is reflected. The way the sound reflects depends in large part on the rigidity of the reflecting surface. If the object is hard, like a substantial piece of metal, the wave reflects as shown below. …
I’ve made reference in the blog before to the fact that some surfaces are good candidates for ultrasonic cleaning while others are either difficult or impossible to clean. In general, surfaces that are hard (metal, glass) are easily cleaned using ultrasonics while softer surfaces (rubber, soft plastic) resist ultrasonic cleaning. The reason has to do …
My previous blog addressed the chemical cost of using too much (or perhaps too little) “soap” in a cleaning process based on chemical cost. Today we look at process issues. You might be saying, “What the heck? So I use too much chemical. Soap is cheap and I look at it as “insurance”.” Well, that “insurance” …
English
Spanish
Chinese
Canada
Mexico
United Kingdom
