Green Parts Cleaning

In the 21st-century shop it’s important to maintain productivity levels while also ensuring that industrial workers are not at risk during parts cleaning.

Green practices are becoming more popular on the shop floor as companies strive to create a safer work environment. In the 21st-century shop it’s important to maintain productivity levels while also ensuring that industrial workers are not at risk.

Using, transporting, and disposing of harsh chemical solvents places a burden on shop floor workers that can create absenteeism and reduce profitability.

CIM—Canadian Industrial Machinery asked Patrick Lapointe, vice president of R&D for Walter Surface Technologies Intl., to describe the benefits of green parts cleaning. Here is what he had to say.

CIM: How can using green products improve worker safety?

Lapointe: When you expose workers to harsh chemicals, you run the risk of losing them not just for one or two days, but for months or even years. The health and safety benefits of using green, environmentally friendly cleaning products are starting to become well-known because they eliminate this risk.

We are finding that 95 percent of our customers are attracted to our green cleaning products because they understand that using these types of products in their shops is safer than using toxic solvents.

Toxic chemicals can cause nerve and skin damage, and when they are absorbed by the body can lead to kidney and liver problems, even cancer.

Removing these from the shop environment is an easy choice. 

CIM: Are there benefits besides health and safety?

Lapointe: Yes. Solvents are flammable. By replacing solvents you take away the risk of fire and explosions in the shop, which reduces insurance premiums.

Also, if you are going to use a controlled product, like a solvent, you need to comply with local storage and disposal regulations. Depending on where your shop is, there can be different rules, but you need to have a ventilated storage area and a catch system to handle leaks.

You also need to have emergency procedures in place. Potential environmental damage caused by a spill could even affect the groundwater table, and costs linked to that are extremely high. With nontoxic, nonflammable, nonreactive cleaning products, these issues are eliminated.

CIM: Is there a perception that green products can’t clean as well as traditional cleaners?

Lapointe: When you are trying to replace an existing product that people are used to, it will always be a challenge. You need to really show the advantages of the new way of working.

Many products being used today are terribly dangerous, and because of that, people have an open mind when considering new, environmentally safe products. When you see the long-term effects that harsh chemicals can have on workers, it’s easy to replace those chemicals.

Over the last 10 years we have seen a major shift in thinking. Before that people didn’t think that a nontoxic parts washer was necessary, but today people are finding this technology to be a very natural fit that is good for their shop.

When we prove that these products clean as well as harsh solvents, excuses start falling away.

CIM: What has replaced the traditional harsh chemical solvents?

Lapointe: We have a system called Bio-Circle, which has two parts. There is a tank that holds the cleaning solution, and a sink for holding and washing the parts. The cleaning liquid is pumped into the sink through a tube that has a brush on the end. The actual part cleaning is done manually through the use of the brush.

Using the brush removes grease, oils, waxes, and other matter that is on the part, and a surfactant helps remove the dirt from the part, which then falls into the sink. The matter is dissolved and falls into the tank, where bioremediation occurs.

CIM: What is bioremediation, and how does it break down the material?

Lapointe: The solution in the tank is comprised of billions of microorganisms that break down and digest oils and greases. This is bioremediation.

Bioremediation happens naturally all around us in the soil and in the oceans. And, its only byproducts are water and carbon dioxide. 

This makes it a true green technology.

CIM: How does this differ from solvents?

Lapointe: Traditional solvents degrade over time. When they clean there is a chemical reaction taking place that degrades the solvent, reducing its ability to clean. Over a period of time the solvents in the cleaning system’s tank will be less and less effective. It is not a sustainable solution.

These microorganisms are self-renewing, meaning that they are constantly replacing themselves. They thrive eating oil, reproduce themselves, and die from natural aging. This makes the life of the solution longer than traditional solvents.

However, if you don’t use the system for a while, the microorganisms will become dormant. Conversely, you can also feed these organisms too much and they will not be able to keep up. When that occurs, a second machine needs to be added.

CIM: Are there limitations?

Lapointe: Our products can clean off any material as long as it’s organic. They can still clean nonorganic material off a part, but this material will not be bioremediated.

We also have different grades of liquids for different applications, each tailored to a specific task. For example, we have a heavy-duty cleaner for tougher cleaning tasks that may have more buildup.

We also can clean alloys and light metals such as aluminum, copper, and magnesium. Because the product is organic, it is very gentle to metal, even metals that are sensitive to corrosion.