Customer Background
Leading manufacturer of engineered products and systems for use in cryogenic and heat transfer applications. Their markets include energy/chemical, industrial gases, and bio-medical. Their focus is on providing affordable, environmentally friendly products.
Challenge
The customer was seeking an aluminum sheet washing system utilizing RO water for large aluminum sheet metal of varying thicknesses and sizes. The size ranges up to 59” wide by 410” (34’) long with the shortest length being 6’ long. The aluminum sheets were approximately .039” to .250” thick and contaminated with a light kerosene based oil leftover from the rolling mill process. The heavier, more difficult to remove residue is a combination of baked on kerosene based oil and aluminum oxide. The current cleaning process included a competitor washing system but due to the difficult residue, a manual hi-pressure wipe-down was necessary after washing adding additional costs and time to the production process. In the new sheet washing system designed by Alliance, we were challenged to meet a final result of a visually clean appearance with a white rag wipe test. The aluminum sheets needed to be 100% dry upon exiting the aluminum sheet cleaning system at a production rate of 8-10 feet per minute.
Solution
Alliance provided an Aquamaster CB-6600X conveyorized belt large aluminum sheet metal washing system with 11 stages. These stages consist of multiple washes, rinses, blowoffs, and a surface brush stage. In the surface brush stage, upper and lower brushes rotate in the direction of the conveyor movement to clean difficult contaminants from parts. The canopy design is unique due to the aluminum metal cleaning machine’s large size. Lift-off “FulAcess” fiberglass composite canopy sections are on either side of the machine, with a stainless steel support canopy in the center. Canopy segments have proximity sensors to shut off pumps if a section of canopy is removed during operation. High-velocity air knives are used in the blowoff zones. Intermediate blowoff helps minimize cross-contamination of wash and rinse solutions. Sound-dampening insulation is included with this machine for the blowoff zones. Other optional accessories include micro-filtration, chemical injection system, conductivity analyzer, exhaust fan system, machine insulation, and auto engage/disengage assembly for the wash brushes. A customer-specified paint scheme is used. The overall dimensions of the custom designed large aluminum sheet metal washing system is 22’6” long x 8’6” wide x 5’0” high.