Cleaning - Industrial Products

Technical Innovationsproblematic and costly during later assemblyand installation. In order to take care of theirdiverse cleaning tasks, Allan Tool decided onDürr Ecoclean's Universal 81C and Universal81W parts cleaning systems. Allan chose theUniversal 81C, with its solvent-basedcleaning system, because it is best suited forremoving oil and grease from theirmachined parts. The water soluble cleaningfrom the Universal 81W is most effective atcleaning parts that are centerless groundusing water soluble coolants and forremoving emulsion from finished parts.Choosing Dürr EcocleanAllan Tool and Machine had used aBowden aqueous parts cleaning system inthe past, but it often caused rustingproblems and it sometimes left water andimpacted chips in the blind holes on some ofthe machined parts. This led Jeffrey Scott,president of Allan Tool and Machine, toconsider another parts cleaning solution.Mr. Scott had always been looking for abetter parts cleaning system for Allan Tooland Machine. “It didn't take a disaster for usto start looking,” explains Scott, “We'realways looking for better ideas.” In 2002when he saw the Dürr Ecoclean Minio 85C atthe International Machine Tool Show inChicago, he was immediately interested. Mr.Scott then went over to Dürr Ecoclean'sWixom, MI facility and observed thedemonstration model first hand and wasconvinced that Dürr Ecoclean had thesolution to their parts cleaning requirements.“I've been around parts cleaners a long timebeing in this business,” explains Scott,“Once I saw the Dürr system and got tounderstand how it worked … I was prettymuch sold.”Dürr Ecoclean is a leading provider ofcleaning, filtration and automation solutionsand has locations in the USA, Germany,France, Czech Republic, China and India.Dürr Ecoclean's USA headquarters, locatedin Wixom, MI, provided a local contact forAllan Tool and Machine to have theirchallenges understood and successfullyanswered.Improving the cleaning process with DürrEcocleanLess than 4 months after Mr. Scott firstmade contact with Dürr Ecoclean at theIMTS in Chicago, an Ecoclean Minio 85C wascleaning production parts on his shop flooras a short term trial model to allowemployees to become familiar with the DürrEcoclean technology. The Minio 85C was toosmall to handle the throughput demandedby Allan Tool, but it did an outstanding job ofcleaning and drying their parts – enough toconvince them of Dürr Ecoclean's qualityand performance.Allan Tool and Machine traded theEcoclean Minio 85C for a larger Universal81C in December, 2004, and purchased aUniversal 81W in September, 2005 forcleaning parts machined with water solublecoolants, and as a back-up cleaning system.The Universal 81C and the Universal 81Ware similar systems. While the Universal 81Cis a solvent-based system that uses nonhalogenatedhydrocarbons to effectivelyremove oils, the Universal 81W is a watersoluble cleaning system that is better suitedfor cleaning parts machined with waterbasedcoolants, like some of the parts thatAllan Tool receives from one of theirsuppliers. As with all machining applications,the grind slurry can get lodged in blindholes, and since these parts were groundwith a water-based solution the slurry willdissolve with water. If the parts are washedin a solvent-based system only the moisturefrom the grind slurry is removed, leaving asticky deposit on the part which can makethe part useless.The Universal 81C is the parts cleanerAllan Tool and Machine mainly relies on. It isa workhorse that is used continuouslythroughout two shifts daily. Its chip cycloneand continuous oil discharge options wereimportant elements that made it an attractivesystem. The continuous oil discharge unitrecovers and recycles much of the oil usedduring machining. None of the systems theyhad in the past allowed any type of oilrecycling. The oil had to be hauled away aswaste. The chip cyclone captures andseparates the chips from the system andallows them to be removed from the system.This makes the filters last much longer andreduces maintenance.Another key feature for Allan Tool andMachine was the Dürr Ecoclean vacuumdrying system on both the Universal 81Wand the Universal 81C. Allan Tool andMachine opted for it and it has virtuallyeliminated the concerns about rusting partsthat they used to have with the formerBowden system. Vacuum drying causes anyremaining cleaning solution or moisture tobe vaporized off the parts, rendering themtotally dry. This involves all surfaces of theparts including blind holes and cavities. Thisflash drying causes any impacted chips to beextremely dry, so they basically just fall outof the blind threaded holes. As Don Prucha,inventory manager at Allan Tool, points out,Annual 2011PURCHASE 203

Technical Innovations“The Dürr Ecoclean 81W (left) and 81C (right) improved the parts cleaning process at the Allan Tool and Machine Co.”“it did a very good job of getting the chips torelease from the parts. It did a much betterjob of handling the chips than anything elsethat we have seen.”How Dürr Ecoclean fulfils customerexpectationsHigh performance combined with useroperability characterize all of Dürr Ecoclean'ssystems. Optional manual feed or automaticfeed systems are available, depending oncustomer needs. Cleaning and dryingprocesses take place in a work chamberunder vacuum, thus saving heating energyand minimizing vapor loss and humidityissues in the shop. The Universal 81W waterbasedparts cleaning system has athroughput rate of approximately 8-10batches per hour, depending on the cleaningsequence. It is used on parts which comefrom Allan Tool's supplier that are machinedusing water based coolants. The Universal81C, with its solvent-based system forcleaning oils and grease, can handle up to 12batches per hour. The clear and easy-to-useoperator panel with the Siemens S7 PLCcontrol system allows for customprogramming of cleaning sequences. Errordiagnosis is managed via a plain text displayon the operator control panel.Both the Universal 81C and Universal81W are effective at cleaning and degreasingmachined parts. Optional extras, such asultrasonic cleaning, vacuum drying orinjection flood washing are available,depending on individual customerrequirements, thus making them appropriatecleaning systems for many metal processingareas. Both systems are expandable as well,thanks to their modular design, so that theycan grow with changing customer needs.OutlookMr. Scott and his team at Allan Tool andMachine have been very pleased with boththe Universal 81C and Universal 81W. Thanksto new enhanced features like the vacuumdrying system the cleaning results are animprovement on those of the old tri-clorsystem, and they do not involve harmfulsolvents. When compared to the Bowdensystem, they also resulted in lower operatingcosts in terms of water heating, detergents,and wastewater treatment. Did they feel likethey got what they wanted from DürrEcoclean? Absolutely. According to Scott:“Yes, it's one of the few items that I have notsuffered sticker shock from. When we firstgot ours the price was extremelyreasonable.”Indeed, since Mr. Scott and his staff atAllan Tool and Machine were so pleased withthe performance of the two Dürr Ecoclean204 PURCHASEAnnual 2011