Why Is Metal Cleaning Important – Pt.2
Ensuring that your machinery is clean is essential to any industry. Excess rust, chemical residue, or built-up oil and grease can be significant problems for everyone, from auto manufacturers to meat processing plants. Such unwanted impurities can ruin a high precision machine or cause a piece of equipment to break down faster than otherwise. It is for this reason that Schaus-Vorhies Kleaning (SVK) specializes in industrial metal cleaning. Whether they are brand new off the line at Schaus-Vorhies Manufacturing (SVM) or you have sent them to us for refurbishing, we want your parts to be the cleanest they can be. It saves you both time and money in the long run. Last time, we took a look at some of our more frequent services, such as sand-blasting. In this post, we will focus on our higher-end options, namely our Fluidized Sand Bed and our Neutral De-Rusting Bath.
Fluidized Sand Bed: The best clean on the market comes from our fluidized sand bed method. We take a large bed full of fine sand that is heated with natural gas and air that is injected into the bottom of the bed to the point that the sand adopts the properties of a fluid, churning and roiling as the heated sand rises to the surface, cools and falls again to be reheated. It mostly looks and behaves a lot like lava. The metal to be cleaned is lowered slowly into the sand bed, gradually introducing it to the heated media to minimize thermal shock. The natural churning of the sand gently polishes whatever piece of equipment is lowered into it. This method not only removes every sort of impurity from the metal’s surface, but it also does it without any risk of damage as there is no chance of the metal coming into direct contact with any flame. Once the product is fully immersed in the sand bed, the process is completed quickly. The heat breaks down any organic compounds within the sand bed itself, and the gases that are released during the process escape from the surface of the bed, exploding like small volcanoes. After the bath in the fluidized sand, the basket is finished. A quick power wash to remove any lingering ash or sand, the metal will be as clean as it can be and ready for whatever application is intended.
Neutral De-Rusting Bath: Many metals will undergo some form of rusting in an environment with a normal amount of moisture and oxygen in the air. This is especially true of iron and steel. The water and the oxygen undergo an electron exchange with the metal, causing it to corrode, often forming light and flaky layer of reddish-brown rust on the metal in question. In certain instances, this can actually create a protective layer, preventing the corrosion of the metal underneath as long as the material is kept in a relatively low humidity environment. In most instances, though, the metal could become rusted all the way through if no mitigating action is taken.
For this reason, it is crucial to remove the rust from steel and iron components to prevent further corrosion. This protects both the structural integrity of the components as well as their operation. If even small bits of rust flake off and get in other parts of the machinery, it can cause excessive wear and lead to premature equipment failure. Even in the case of the stable rust that forms a protective layer, it is often necessary to remove it for purposes of beautification. Or perhaps you can’t keep the humidity low enough at your facility for the covering of rust to remain stable. In either case, we are here to help.
Using a three hundred cubic foot basket, SVK can remove rust with a carefully balanced 7.0 – 9.0 pH solution of phosphonic acid that will eat away light to moderate rust. By dipping parts, in this neutral de-rusting solution, we provide you with an even cleaner and safer product.
SVK is committed to bringing you the very best metal cleaning services. Contact us, and we’ll help you get the best end product to keep you and your business running for years to come.
