Henkel Develops Four New Industrial Cleaning Innovations

Henkel has developed no less than four new cleaning products designed to bring a host of advantages to those faced with cleaning industrial surfaces and components. New cleaners, defoamers and descalers are now available, all offering differentiation against competitor products and the ability to deliver competitive gain for users.

There are four fundamental parameters associated with cleaning: chemicals, mechanics, temperature and time. Ensuring the cleaning process is as efficient and cost effective as possible means looking for the optimum balance between the four.

To help identify the ideal chemical, there is again a four step rule which can be applied to almost any cleaning challenge: identify the contamination to be removed; identify the necessary characteristics of the cleaner required; specify the application type, such as manual, spray, dip or ultrasonic; and select the cleaner’s product group – alkaline, neutral or acidic.

Henkel has introduced a new mild alkaline parts cleaner aimed at the maintenance market. BONDERITE^® C-MC 90014 offers strong degreasing properties without any of the harmful vapour issues associated with solvents. Featuring low VOC content of ±6%, the product is non-flammable and safe to use on painted surfaces. Moreover, it provides fast evaporation without any visible residue and can be applied either manually or via a fountain table. BONDERITE^® C-MC 90014 can also provide temporary corrosion protection of the cleaned surface.

Another new innovation from Henkel is BONDERITE^® C-MC 21130, an environmentally compatible product for cleaning-off uncured paints and adhesives. It is ready-to-use (although can be diluted up to 80%) and contains 50% less VOC than conventional solvent cleaners. 

Designed to dissolve both aqueous and solvent-containing paints, lacquers, varnishes, latex, rubber, resins and electrophoretic deposits (EPD), it will even remove adhesives such as cyanoacrylates, silicones, two-component PU silicones and other bi-component polyurethanes (provided they have not completely dried). BONDERITE^® C-MC 21130 is non-flammable and odourless up to 40°C. In addition, it can be recycled up to a certain percentage using a simple distillation process. The product is remarkably easy to use: simply apply with a brush or spray gun and wipe the paint away with a cloth.

For those seeking new descaler innovations, Henkel can now offer BONDERITE^® C-IC 90001 acid foam descaler, which provides a highly effective replacement for hydrochloric acid (HCI). This product not only removes scale, but also salts, light grease and carbon steel contamination from stainless steel. Furthermore, it passivates stainless steel, emits no hazardous fumes and, as a stable foam, allows long contact time and application even on vertical surfaces.

Last but by no means least is Henkel’s BONDERITE^® C-AD RT 1020S, a low temperature cleaner for surface preparation prior to painting. This product is designed to offer a significant cost reduction for users as the pre-treatment tank only requires heating to 30°C, as opposed to 55°C using conventional cleaners. Due to the lower temperature, worker safety is also improved.

Successful application examples involving early adopters of these new cleaning technologies are beginning to emerge across Europe. For example, a large paper mill is now using BONDERITE^® C-MC 21130 cleaner to remove latex contamination from its equipment. Once cured, latex is a hard and difficult substance to remove, but the use of BONDERITE^® C-MC 21130 has proved successful in replacing traditional high VOC solvents such as toluene and acetone. In fact, the same paper mill is also taking advantage of BONDERITE^® C-IC 90001 foam to remove scale deposits from any equipment that comes into contact with water, replacing HCI in the process.

Elsewhere, a major lighting manufacturer has adopted a low temperature cleaning solution from Henkel on its pre-treatment line for aluminium and steel without losing cleaning efficiency or requiring any mechanical changes to existing equipment. Here, the use of an alkaline, two-part low temperature cleaning system based on BONDERITE^® C-AK 6444 and BONDERITE^® C-AD RT 1020S is providing powerful degreasing at 25-30°C. Previously, the company had to heat its tank to 60°C, a requirement that commanded 23% of the company’s total annual gas consumption. As a result of the switch, the plant now enjoys 30% lower gas consumption, which currently equates to a saving of €21,000 a year. Furthermore, there is no foam formation or discoloured surfaces.

Ultimately, all of the Henkel’s latest BONDERITE^® cleaning solutions are designed to enhance product performance, increase reliability, improve the overall manufacturing process and reduce costs.

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