Industrial Cleaning Technology

Centrifugal Pumps in Cleaning Technology

Apart from daily washing of laundry in private households, highly-complex machines in modified forms can be found in almost every industry for cleaning different surfaces and objects. Classic applications of cleaning technology can be found, for example, in component cleaning, metal cleaning, crate and bottle cleaning or in medical technology. In order to efficiently transport the cleaning medium to the surfaces and objects to be treated, centrifugal pumps are an important component of these cleaning systems. Through the hydraulic implementation of centrifugal pumps, certain components are cleaned from contamination by means of rinsing, immersing, or high-pressure spraying.

Application of EDUR-Centrifugal Pumps in Cleaning Technology

EDUR-centrifugal pumps have become key system components for leading cleaning plant manufacturers in order to transport the cleaning medium efficiently and reliably to surfaces and objects. Due to fulfilling complex, application-specific tasks in industrial cleaning processes, EDUR has been a valuable partner in development and implementation for years.

The various conveyed fluids and cleaning procedures require the careful selection of all pump components in terms of design. Ensuring the compatibility of the conveyed fluid with the pump materials, as well as implementing the necessary flow requirements are of the utmost importance. The different requirements for wet-mixed cleaning with high component volume or cleaning with solvents containing hydrocarbon or chlorinated hydrocarbon in batch or single part cleaning are key for the EDUR-pump selection. Adverse conveying conditions such as dry run, vacuum operation, gap-passing particles in the flow rate or slurping mode are examined and considered, for example, by means of special sealing systems and specially adjusted impellers. Depending on the cleaning system and process conditions, close-coupled pumps, inline pumps or torque flow pumps from EDUR are used. Additionally, EDUR-multiphase pumps are used for downstream recovery of substances used and for wastewater treatment.

Centrifugal Pumps for Metal Cleaning

Cleaning and degreasing of surfaces in metal cleaning is very important for the entire metal-processing industry, but especially for applications in medical technology and automotive.

All processing and treatment steps in the metal industry involve contamination of parts and their surfaces. That is why efficient cleaning is required in almost all areas. Here, it does not matter whether a component undergoes further refinement or not. With subsequent processing methods, such as galvanising, painting, phosphating or passivating, a particularly careful cleaning of the surfaces must take place by means of using centrifugal pumps. Special media tailored to the relevant process for degreasing and ultra-fine cleaning are used.

Centrifugal Pumps for Bottle Cleaning

Bottle cleaning plants are mainly used within the food and beverage industry, but also in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to the filling process and return, disposable bottles are initially intensively cleaned in several subsequently-running flushing and sterilisation processes. During sterilisation with hot water, pure surfaces are generated by means of centrifugal pumps in order to subsequently fill the product germ-free and clean into the bottles and other receptacles.

Plants for returnable systems must first clean containers and bottles of their old content and dirt before they may continue to subsequent filling and sterilisation processes of a bottle and container system further downstream. In the subsequent water treatment of wastewater and in water recycling processes, EDUR-multiphase pumps are used to support the flotation process.

Centrifugal Pumps for Crates Cleaning

Crate washing systems with centrifugal pumps, mostly high-pressure pumps, are for example used to clean transport crates from bakeries and butchers. They are also used for the cleaning in production processes of the food industry, processing industry, textile industry and the metal industry.

The transport crates and containers are led through various cleaning zones via a conveyor belt. Depending on the contamination, the crates and containers are sprayed, pre-cleaned, immersed or washed by means of centrifugal pumps in order to be subsequently rinsed off using hot fluid. Hot rinsing off accelerates the subsequent drying process. Here, torque flow pumps, close-coupled pumps or inline pumps are used depending on the cleaning zone.

Centrifugal Pumps for Vehicle Washing Plants

Train washing plants, truck washing plants and car washing plants not only differ due to the selection of centrifugal pumps used, but also due to the kind of washing process.

With truck washing plants, train washing plants, and the majority of car washing plants, the vehicle stands fixed at one location (location plant) and the nozzle holder for high-pressure cleaning as well as the brushes move on a rail system along the vehicle to be cleaned. All activities on the vehicle to be cleaned are carried out via driving carriage wreath on rails, which is connected to a fixed supply unit via a fixed pipe and hose system.

At car washing plants with high-pressure pumps, continuous systems for serial cleaning of vehicles are used. During the process, vehicles are transported and cleaned via a drag chain or drag belt from cleaning zone to cleaning zone. In this way, a higher frequency is achieved.

In the washing plants, mainly multistage inline pumps, single stage close-coupled pumps and multistage centrifugal pumps are used. Depending on the fluid and cleaning processes, pumps made of higher-quality stainless steel are also used. Multiphase pumps are used in the subsequent water recycling and flotation process.

Centrifugal Pumps for Surface Treatment

In surface treatment plants, components are led through a tunnel system with cleaning zones and nozzle holders by a chain conveyor. There are single stations, in which the components are cleaned by using centrifugal pumps. Dependent on the component to be cleaned, flushing lances and rotary nozzles within a high-pressure process are used for surface treatment.

In the tunnel systems, the workpiece to be cleaned is sprayed, flushed, phosphated, stained, and rinsed again with various fluids to degrease the surfaces and eliminate any type of residues. After the cleaning process, surface finishing, such as painting or powder coating, is carried out in the downstream process.

Inline pumps, multistage centrifugal pumps as well as single stage close-coupled pumps with special sealing systems are used for surface treatment. Multiphase pumps are used in the subsequent water recycling and flotation process.