maintenance matters Clean Surfaces, By: Doris Schulz Quickly And Effectively Cleaning procedures for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). C Cleaning is usually the first task in mainte-nance, repair and overhaul (MRO) process-es — and it’s mostly expensive. The industry offers a variety of cleaning procedures to achieve the required cleanli-ness for the subsequent work, focusing on speed, efficiency, safety at work and con-cern for the environment, and often permit-ting cleaning without the need to dismantle. Reliable removal of impurities is neces-sary to facilitate the real work of repair, maintenance, refurbishment or inspection of machinery, assemblies and components. Cleaning thus has a decisive impact on quality and costs in MRO processes — and just how cleaning achieves cost-effective-ness and eco-efficiency depends on using the appropriate technology. shot-blasting with solid media or steam, dry ice blasting and laser-beaming provide efficient, cost-effective and rapid cleaning processes for maintenance tasks. Mobile cleaning units are available for these processes, as well as fixed cleaning systems. A new steam-blasting procedure bases its cleaning effect on the combination of satu-rated steam and a high-speed air stream. Steam is generated by heating water as it flows through, so that there is always a con-stant amount of steam for cleaning with con-sistent properties. Manual Cleaning With Renewable Resources Manual cleaning is part of the daily routine in virtually every maintenance shop or de-partment, using cleaning agents that meet the demands for safety at work and envi-ronmental protection, in addition to the re-quired quality of cleaning, user-friendliness and efficiency. Innovative cleaning agents are now avail-able with constituents based on renewable resources, having the potential to replace VOC-based and/or irritant solvents such as petroleum. Depending on their composition, these cleaning agents can even deal with heavy contamination such as rubber marks, bitumen and wax residues, grease, oil car-bon deposits, rust, cracking and adhesive residue. Scoured Clean Spray-jet procedures such as water jets, With the right equipment – from table-top tanks up to multi-chamber units – ultrasonics can be put to many uses in maintenance work. This process is mainly used for cleaning without dismantling the individual parts. 40 CM/Cleaning & Maintenance Management ® • October 2013 Image courtesy of Bandelin
CMM – Archives October 2013: 40
