Dr Marko Poleschak, the member of BCD Chemie field sales staff who is responsible for this area, had already heard of Henkel's BONDERITE low-temperature cleaning when the talks entered their first round. “It was clear to us that the only parameter we could modify was the cleaning process, i.e. the chemistry itself. We have been working with Henkel on customer-specific solutions for many years now, and were able to build on this technology leadership and on the long-standing, trust-based partnership with the technical team here in Düsseldorf. In planning, it was of course essential to retain the existing process and not to cause any additional costs in the form of plant conversion.” In short, the goal was to reduce the temperature to save energy in the existing plant, while retaining unchanged mechanics and the same treatment time to at least maintain – if not improve – the quality of the cleaning, and to create additional capacity for contract coating in the future.
These requirements were a perfect fit for the performance parameters of the new BONDERITE® low-temperature cleaning system.
The alkaline two-component cleaner can be used at room temperature, making heating to the usual 60° Celsius a thing of the past. Thanks to the combination of special builders and surfactant components, this new and efficient low-temperature cleaning system can be used to replace most spray and immersion cleaning processes currently on the market. There are no negative properties such as foam formation, discoloured surfaces, or parts made defective due to drying. Andreas Maslowski, who works in functional coatings at Henkel Technical Service, confirms: “At the preset bath parameters that we and BCD Chemie recommend, the cleaned parts have a 100% hydrophilic surface, offering the ideal base for subsequent process steps.”
The reduced temperature allows SITECO to reduce its annual energy consumption by 30%, as the gas burner in the six-zone plant can be left switched off almost all year round. Only on very cold winter days will the cleaning fluid perhaps need to be warmed to room temperature.
Another advantage is that the parts are cool after cleaning, so they do not influence the subsequent processes such as conversion coating. After all, all other steps in the process can be conducted at room temperature. In other words, the plant can now work at the same low-temperature level throughout the process – all the way to the adhesive water dryer. Low-temperature cleaning also reduces the usual evaporation loss in the cleaning bath.
