Parts Cleaning Trends, Equipment and Solvents at IMTS 2024

Parts cleaning is a process most manufacturers are faced with at some point, whether completed prior to a finishing process or before sending out a complete part to a customer. Regardless, it is a necessary operation that is worth the effort to stay abreast of the latest technologies and trends in the industry.

We spoke with three parts cleaning exhibitors at IMTS 2024 to get their input on what they are showcasing in their booths as well as the trends they are experiencing in the industrial cleaning segment.

Cleaning Technologies Group (CTG) displays its new Ransohoff models and CTG’s new Washmaster line of low-cost parts washers. The Ransohoff Cell-U-Clean RTL (return to load) compact parts washer is designed for high capacity, energy efficiency and low operating cost. The LeanJet RB-2 is also on display, featuring an automated load and unload system. Blackstone-NEY Ultrasonic showcases an HT-IPA ultrasonic cleaning tank tailored for use with Class 1, Div. 1 Group D, T4 solvents which are specifically crafted for small parts cleaning applications that demand a flammable solvent.

The use of vacuum technology and how it can enhance all aspects of an aqueous cleaning process is prevalent in Jayco Cleaning Technologies’ booth. The company’s aqueous, single chamber washer with its vacuum-assisted Clean + Dry technology demonstrates how a vacuum can completely dry cannulated medical devices, intricate internal passages of additive manufactured components and other complex parts. With this technology, parts can be handled immediately upon exit from the washer.

Jayco’s vacuum technology is also used in the wash and rinse stages. At the wash stage, it completely reduces the surface tension, degasses the cleaning solution in preparation for ultrasonic use and changes the vapor pressure of the wash solution. This manipulation pushes and pulls the solution to blind areas that cannot be reached with other technology. It also enhances the rinse process.

HybridClean, a line of aqueous chemistries that Jayco has developed specifically for use in aqueous, vacuum-assisted, single chamber washers, is also being displayed for the first time at the show. This chemistry is low foaming when modulating the vacuum, easily transmits ultrasonic cavitation, provides long life through enhanced pH buffering and is free rinsing.

Kyzen Corp., developer of cleaning chemistry for the medical and automotive industries and solvent replacement, features its chemistry as well as the Conductivity Control System (CCS) in its booth. The CCS is a mountable, automated chemical control unit for the top of a chemical drum. It contains a digital display, conductivity probe and precision metering pump. The probe is mounted internally to the piping directly off the wash pump so it can measure the true concentration of chemistry that is sprayed onto the parts. The controller’s digital display shows the actual conductivity reading in millisiemens/cm rather than percent of concentration.

Kyzen’s Global Marketing Manager Sherry Stepp says the Kyzen Clean Team is available to answer all questions about solvents and cleaning processes in their booth. “We are experts on how our cleaning chemistry works in all types of cleaning machines,” she says.

These cleaning exhibitors, and cleaning companies in general, are constantly adapting to keep up with industry trends. According to Jayco, cleaning smaller parts with increased cleanliness demands is a recent trend that causes every party involved in cleaning to reconsider how they approach the cleaning process.

“As an example, we just had a customer increase their in-process cleaning requirement to know what the final clean requirement used to be,” says Jeff Beard, product and business development manager at Jayco. “The final cleaning requirement, in turn, was further refined, allowing for fewer small particles and organics.”

While solvent cleaning in the U.S. remains popular, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new regulations for PFAS/PFOA, TCE, nPB and Perc. Users of these solvents must not only switch out chemistries but also change their cleaning processes to an alternative one, Beard says.

Kyzen’s Stepp says because of this solvent dilemma, companies are more open minded than in the past about solvent replacement and are starting to turn to aqueous methods and other alternative processes.

Other cleaning trends, according to CTG, include tighter cleaning specification requirements from customers, an increase in automation to reduce labor costs and a push to “go green,” says Dave Melton, marketing manager at CTG. “Customers are asking for lower energy usage and less water consumption.”