Industrial heat treating operations for metal involve the removal of coatings from metal before it enters the furnace. Unless coatings are removed, they are likely to oxidize and tarnish the appearance of the workpieces. This concern is especially pertinent to heat treating stainless steel and other chromium alloys that require a bright, clean appearance for the final application. A chromium alloy is any type of metallic alloy that contains at least 10.5% chromium by mass.
Coatings That Must be Removed
Before it undergoes the heat treating process, metal may need to have several types of coatings removed to ensure the quality of the final product. Some coatings, such as light dirt and grease, can be removed with standard cleaning solvents and degreasers, as long as their ingredients don’t corrode metal. However, metal workpieces — especially used ones that are annealed or hardened to extend their lifespan — can also contain some rather tough coatings, such as:
- Industrial grade decals
- Commercial grade paint
- Patches of rust
- Accumulations of tar
- Accumulations of bitumen
- Heavy residue from engine fluids
In some cases, parts that are extensively rusted may require a grinding procedure or a sandblasting procedure to effectively remove the stable layer of oxide. However, most tough coatings can be removed with industrial coating removers, such as adhesive removers, paint removers, tar removers, non-residual degreasers and organic accumulation removers — all products that you can conveniently order from the inventory in Ecolink’s online store.
Need for Custom Coating Removers
When it comes to removing coatings from metal alloys that must have a lustrous appearance after they exit the furnace, it’s especially important to avoid the use of certain products, particularly ones that contain hydrochloric acid (e.g., bleach), chlorine (e.g., carbon tetrachloride) and professionally or amateurly formulated vinegar mixes. Despite having an organic profile, the high levels of acid in white vinegar can still have a corrosive effect on some chromium alloys.
At Ecolink, we offer coating removers that feature a more eco friendly, less corrosive chemical profile than conventional coating removers. Depending on your heat treating needs, you may find that you can implement our readymade solutions without negatively affecting the workpieces. However, if it turns out that our pre-made products don’t meet your coating removal needs, we can use our expertise in chemical composition to create a custom solution that works perfectly.
Are Custom Products Cost Effective?
Because they are specially formulated and tested to meet a specific set of conditions, custom industrial coating removers often cost more per volume than their conventional counterparts. However, when you consider how they boost the productivity of the coating removal process, and how they prevent the need for post heat treating polishing applications to restore vitality to a surface that is chemically corroded, using the products often delivers a quite favorable ROI.
Contact Ecolink Today
Ecolink understands the role of industrial coating removers in the heat treatment of metal. Whether you need to remove coatings from stainless steel, carbon steel, or another type of metal, we offer industrial coating removers that make the job easier. We can also create a custom coating remover to address your specific needs if that is what you require.
For more information about our coating removal products, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to assisting you!
Choosing a Degreaser for a Concrete Floor: What Are Your Options?
/in Degreasing Agents/by Industrial DegreasersConcrete flooring is one of the most popular types of flooring for indoor and outdoor industrial areas. Consequently, a large market has developed around concrete cleaners, of which there are practically too many brands to count. However, most brands of degreaser for concrete floors can be organized into four distinct categories: pH-neutral, acidic, alkaline, and enzymatic.
If you need help choosing a degreaser for a concrete floor, call Ecolink at (800) 563-1305 to receive professional assistance. In addition to providing pre-designed solutions for cleaning concrete floors, we can also supply customized concrete floor cleaning solutions that are formulated to address a unique set of cleaning needs, and do so at a highly competitive price.
pH-Neutral Cleaning Solutions
These types cleaners are rather mild and are typically used to clean concrete floors that have no embedded dirt or grime, particularly floors that are well-sealed. Generally inexpensive and having a good safety profile, pH-neutral solutions are a good option for everyday concrete floor cleaning operations, especially janitorial maintenance of concrete flooring in high traffic areas.
Acidic Cleaning Solutions
This class of cleaners is more stringent than ph-neutral solutions and are typically applied to remove stains, dirt, and contamination that exhibit solubility in the presence of common acid. The most common application for the solutions is the removal of efflorescence — an insoluble, metallic salt that looks like a white powder or a crystalline residue when it accretes on concrete.
Alkaline Cleaning Solutions
These types of cleaners are commonly referred to as “concrete degreasers”, as they are generally used to remove oil and grease residues from concrete. The alkalinity of these cleaners emulsifies oily residues, so they can be easily mopped up or washed away with a water sprayer. An alkaline solution is perfect for cleaning the greasy, concrete floors in auto mechanic garages.
Enzymatic Cleaning Solutions
This class of cleaners uses an enzymatic/bacterial formulation to target specific types of soils, especially stains that are starch-based, hydrocarbon-based, and protein-based. Consequently, they are often used to remove odorous stains from concrete bathroom floors. Enzymatic solutions are popular among companies that want their cleaning solutions to be as green as possible, and don’t mind investing a bit of extra money to acquire an enzymatic solution.
Contact Us Today
If you are in the market for a degreaser for a concrete floor, the product you need is largely determined by the characteristics of the concrete, including finishing procedures that have been applied to its surface. Choosing the wrong degreaser for a concrete floor can fail to provide the right cleaning power. Worse yet, it could deface the concrete and make it expensive to restore.
For these reasons, Ecolink helps companies choose the right type of degreasing solutions for their concrete floors. If you need assistance selecting a degreaser for a concrete floor, at (800) 563-1305 to schedule a free consultation, or fill out the contact form on our website. Our experienced team of chemists are ready to supply you with the best solution for your needs!
Custom Cleaning Blends – Is your Company Missing Out?
/in Custom Blended Industrial Cleaners/by Industrial DegreasersMost businesses and organizations can find effective cleaning solutions among pre-formulated products that are found on store shelves and readily available online. However, there is also a large swath of companies and organizations that simply can’t find a readymade cleaning solution that meets their requirements, and engage in a seemingly endless process of trial and error.
In most cases, these parties need custom cleaning blends that are tailored to meet a unique set of cleaning requirements. Does your company or organization need custom cleaning blends from a supplier whose chemical specialty includes custom products? If you experience any of the following needs that a readymade solution fails to address, the answer is probably yes.
Reduce Emissions
Companies that are located in low emission zones (LEZs) must monitor their chemical emissions more carefully than businesses that are located in standard emission zones. Ecolink can formulate custom cleaning blends that produce little if any emissions that are harmful to workers or the environment, and thus help you avoid financial penalties for violating emission caps.
Minimize Fire Hazards
Companies whose products are highly flammable must do everything they can to minimize fire hazards, including using special cleaning solutions that are unlikely to ignite, or fail to ignite. Investing in a custom cleaner that has a low flashpoint or no flashpoint makes it easier to store and use the solution, both at the location of the manufacturer and the locations of its customers.
Perform Dual Process Cleaning
For the sake of productivity and maintaining good turnaround times, some businesses need to perform two or more cleaning procedures at once, such as degreasing and de-icing. Instead of buying two different products and performing two separate cleaning procedures, why not let us create a single cleaner that performs two or more cleaning processes in one application? In addition to being highly practical, using such a solution can help reduce operating expense.
Improve Worker Safety
Companies need to make the work environment as safe as possible for employees. Otherwise, the financial loss from injury settlements and workers compensation awards can really start to add up. No flashpoint, no volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and no toxic chemicals are three examples of qualities that can make a custom cleaner safer to use than a conventional one.
Contact Us Today
Whether your company requires a custom cleaning solution for reducing emissions, minimizing fire hazards, performing dual process cleaning, improving worker safety, or all of these things, Ecolink is here to help. Our area of chemical specialty includes the formulation of custom cleaning blends that get the job done effectively, and minimize the drawbacks of using certain types of cleaners.
For more information about our custom cleaning blends and what cleaning needs they can be formulated to address, give us a call today at (800) 563-1305 to schedule a free consultation, or fill out the contact form on our website. We look forward to supplying you with custom cleaning solutions that are designed for your unique cleaning requirements and associated concerns!
Non Flammable Degreasers With nPB: Their Use in Vapor Degreasing
/in N-Propyl Bromide/by Industrial DegreasersVapor degreasing is a process in which various types of components are cleaned to remove surface accumulations of grease and similarly constituted substances. In some cases, the procedure is performed as a finishing process to prepare components for further finishing operations, such as painting and heat treating; while in other cases, the goal is to remove grease to sustain the performance of parts that accumulations of grease could compromise.
Using nPB for Vapor Degreasing
N propyl bromide (nPB) is a vapor degreasing solution that originally replaced more volatile and dangerous solutions, particularly the halogenated solvents 1,1,1 Trichloroethane (TCA) and Tetrachloroethene (PCE), which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned in commercial and industrial work settings in the early 1990’s, when the green movement was gaining steam. Compared to these solutions, nPB offers several practical benefits, including:
As advantageous as nPB can be for vapor degreasing applications, its popularity has started to wane due to emerging information about the drawbacks of the solution. More specifically, NPB has been identified as a solvent that contains ingredients that may be carcinogenic in nature, and can potentially cause liver damage. These findings have led many companies to replace nPB non flammable degreasers with ones that have a better profile for human and animal safety.
Finding New Non Flammable Degreasers
In spite of recent evidence that asserts the danger of using non flammable degreasers that contain nPB, many companies continue to use solutions that contain the ingredient. The reasons why are fairly obvious: companies that use the ingredient frequently typically have a large supply of it onsite, switching to a new vapor degreaser brings the challenge of finding a product that performs as well as the old one, and the EPA has yet to firmly regulate the use of nPB.
While these considerations are only understandable, companies are smart to look at the big picture, and replace nPB vapor degreasers with ones that contain non toxic ingredients. Even if nPB remains largely unregulated for the foreseeable future, it may still have a deleterious effect on the health of those who work with the solution, as well as produce negative effects in animals that come into contact with the solution via vapor emissions and other forms of release.
How Ecolink Can Help
If your company uses non flammable degreasers that contain nPB, and you would like to switch to new ones that have a better safety profile, Ecolink can provide you with readymade solutions or custom solutions that meet your needs. Above all, we can provide safer solutions that work just as well as the old ones, if not more so, and offer you the ability to use the new product as a “drop in” replacement that doesn’t require reconfiguring the existing vapor degreasing system.
For more information about obtaining high-efficacy, non flammable degreasers that don’t contain nPB, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or use the contact page on our website. We look forward to helping you avoid the drawbacks of using nPB in your strategic vapor degreasing operations!
Industrial Coating Removers: Their Role in Heat Treating Metal
/in Industrial Cleaning Solutions/by Industrial DegreasersIndustrial heat treating operations for metal involve the removal of coatings from metal before it enters the furnace. Unless coatings are removed, they are likely to oxidize and tarnish the appearance of the workpieces. This concern is especially pertinent to heat treating stainless steel and other chromium alloys that require a bright, clean appearance for the final application. A chromium alloy is any type of metallic alloy that contains at least 10.5% chromium by mass.
Coatings That Must be Removed
Before it undergoes the heat treating process, metal may need to have several types of coatings removed to ensure the quality of the final product. Some coatings, such as light dirt and grease, can be removed with standard cleaning solvents and degreasers, as long as their ingredients don’t corrode metal. However, metal workpieces — especially used ones that are annealed or hardened to extend their lifespan — can also contain some rather tough coatings, such as:
In some cases, parts that are extensively rusted may require a grinding procedure or a sandblasting procedure to effectively remove the stable layer of oxide. However, most tough coatings can be removed with industrial coating removers, such as adhesive removers, paint removers, tar removers, non-residual degreasers and organic accumulation removers — all products that you can conveniently order from the inventory in Ecolink’s online store.
Need for Custom Coating Removers
When it comes to removing coatings from metal alloys that must have a lustrous appearance after they exit the furnace, it’s especially important to avoid the use of certain products, particularly ones that contain hydrochloric acid (e.g., bleach), chlorine (e.g., carbon tetrachloride) and professionally or amateurly formulated vinegar mixes. Despite having an organic profile, the high levels of acid in white vinegar can still have a corrosive effect on some chromium alloys.
At Ecolink, we offer coating removers that feature a more eco friendly, less corrosive chemical profile than conventional coating removers. Depending on your heat treating needs, you may find that you can implement our readymade solutions without negatively affecting the workpieces. However, if it turns out that our pre-made products don’t meet your coating removal needs, we can use our expertise in chemical composition to create a custom solution that works perfectly.
Are Custom Products Cost Effective?
Because they are specially formulated and tested to meet a specific set of conditions, custom industrial coating removers often cost more per volume than their conventional counterparts. However, when you consider how they boost the productivity of the coating removal process, and how they prevent the need for post heat treating polishing applications to restore vitality to a surface that is chemically corroded, using the products often delivers a quite favorable ROI.
Contact Ecolink Today
Ecolink understands the role of industrial coating removers in the heat treatment of metal. Whether you need to remove coatings from stainless steel, carbon steel, or another type of metal, we offer industrial coating removers that make the job easier. We can also create a custom coating remover to address your specific needs if that is what you require.
For more information about our coating removal products, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to assisting you!
Wetting Index – Why Does It Matter?
/in Ecolink News/by Industrial DegreasersIn the cleaning solution industry, the term “wetting” refers to a liquid’s ability to remain in contact with a solid surface after it is applied — a bond between the substances that results from intermolecular interactions; specifically, a “force balance between adhesive and cohesive forces.” To measure the “wettability” of cleaning solutions, chemists use what is known as the “wetting index”, which gauges a solution’s ability to penetrate between closely spaced parts.
Why the Wetting Index Matters
When companies need a solution that can clean a system of closely spaced components — such as those that you would find in a standard combustion engine — in a short period of time, with minimal effort required of the end user, it’s especially important to consider the wettability of a solution before using it. Because it rates the wettability of cleaning solutions, the wetting index makes it easier to choose a product whose wettability is suitable for the application in question.
In the absence of assessing the wettability of cleaning solutions, companies often engage in a process of trial and error until they find a solution that delivers the right cleaning action. In the meantime, the applications for which they use improper cleaning solutions can lead to improper maintenance of mechanical parts, and, by extension, the failure of the parts while in service.
Ultimately, using the wetting index to identify viable cleaning solutions can help companies save money on cleaning products, mitigate equipment repair costs, and maintain productivity.
Putting the Wetting Index to Use
Because the wetting index is a scientific construct that non-scientists rarely put to use, it helps to explain the efficacy of the index by providing a hypothetical example of its application. Say that an aerospace company needs a cleaning solution for quickly degreasing the engines of aerospace equipment when it is not in use. In this situation, the wetting index could be used to ascertain that a vapor degreasing solvent would work better than an aqueous degreaser.
Because the cleaning action of an aqueous solvent depends primarily on the solution’s ingredients and the force with which the product is applied, the solvent may not be suitable for cleaning tight spaces between engine parts. Conversely, the cleaning action of a solvent that is applied in vapor form depends on the product’s wettability and not the force with which you apply it, although, as with aqueous solvents, the solvent’s ingredients will play a major role, as well.
Need Help Choosing a Cleaner?
If so, information provided in the wetting index could be a key to selecting the right product on the first try. At Ecolink, we don’t expect you to possess the knowledge of an experienced chemist when it comes to assessing wettability; that is what we are here for. Simply contact us and explain your cleaning needs, and we will identify the right solution. If we don’t carry a pre-formulated product that meets your needs, we can create a custom product that does.
Call us today at (800) 563-1305, or fill out our contact form.