SURFACE PREPARATION
Appropriate surface preparation is the essential first step to provide consistent and reliable adhesive or cohesive bond strength. Conventional surface treatment options for joining substrates pose different constraints in terms cost of ownership, environmental compliance, and performance. Our manually operated and automated surface preparation products include:
- CleanLogix MicroSno™ CO2 Composite Spray Cleaning Systems
- CleanLogix PowerSno™ CO2 Composite Spray Cleaning Systems
- Tantec Atmospheric Plasma (AP) and Corona Treatment Systems
- Universal Robot (UR) Collaborative Robot Systems
- PET OSEE Surface Quality Monitors
We offer a modular and expandable CO2 spray cleaning platform called PowerSno™. The PowerSno™ Universal CO2 Cleaning System by CleanLogix is an economical yet extremely versatile clean manufacturing solution for precision cleaning, cooling, and lubrication applications. Using the latest CO2 Composite Spray™ technology, the PowerSno™ generates and propels an energetic air-CO2 particle spray comprising pressure- and temperature-regulated compressed air, nitrogen gas, or clean dry air (CDA) containing adjustable amounts of micronized CO2 particles to efficiently remove contaminants from any manufactured surface or manufacturing tool. The PowerSno™ provides robust single-step and 100% dry treatment process capabilities – On-the-Bench, On-the-Line, On-the-Robot, or In-the-Tool.
We also offer surface preparation systems which utilize a CO2 Composite Spray working in cooperation with an atmospheric plasma. This new surface treatment process, called Particle-Plasma Ablation (PPA), is a cost- and performance-effective alternative to conventional surface preparation methods such as abrasive blast, solvent wipe, Laser ablation, and atmospheric plasma. PPA is a robust platform for preparing many types of substrate surfaces – metals, polymers, and composites – and for numerous medical, aerospace, automobile, ophthalmic and microelectronic bonding applications.
WHAT DO OUR CUSTOMERS SAY
The purpose of surface cleaning is to remove deposits that might cause damage through abrasion, absorption of acidic gases, or serve as medium for mould growth.
Simple dry cleaning of surfaces using erasers and sponges requires contact with surface which might also cause alteration of surface properties (flattening, eraser residues). With respect to basic requirement to avoid material degradation an alternative non-contact method might be CO2 snow jet cleaning performed using a Precision Spray Cleaning Pen (SnoPen SP 2000, Cleanlogix).
Artificialy soiled samples of wood-based and cotton-based paper were cleaned by the CO2 snow jet with a carbon dioxide flow rate of 3.0 g/s and a nitrogen flow rate of 1.4 l/s and by the nitrogen jet at the same flow rate. Paralel samples were cleaned by traditional mechanical cleaning methods. The effect of treatment was evaluated by optical microscopy.
The results showed that the CO2 snow jet cleaning effectively removed particles in the lower layers of the paper surface, including interfiber spaces.
The CO2 snow jet cleaning compared with the mechanical dry cleaning showed similar effectiveness without any adverse effects on the paper surface. It was proved that the CO2 snow technique is a suitable method for cleaning common types of paper materials.
As a company that produces products of the highest quality, CICOIL chooses Clean Imagineering for the following reasons.
- Reliability: Clean Imagineering has proven itself by consistently delivering products of the highest quality;
- Flexibility: Clean Imagineering friendly staff is very willing to work with us to tailor their processes/procedures to meet our stringent requirements;
- Cost: Clean Imagineering is able to process larger batches than their competitor, therefore providing significant cost savings for CICOIL;
- Location: This not only saves time and money on shipping, but also allows CICOIL to support our local economy;
- Knowledge: When faced with a new and particularly hard to remove contaminant, we were able to draw upon Clean Imagineering's vast experience and knowledge to provide us with a solution.