When cleaning components from aircraft, only very select and explicitly approved cleaning techniques and agents may be used. This of course also applies to helicopters. The highly structured surfaces should be cleaned of oil and grease deposits, including abrasion, as far as possible without applying too much pressure.
Up to now, only A III cleaners have been used for these applications. This required a considerable amount of time. Both the cleaning result and the time required were inacceptable in practice - as one of the employees put it rather bluntly: „The A III cleaners are without any effect".
The low-pressure hot cleaning devices are an ideal and cost-effective solution: With a low pressure of only 7.5 bar, the required rinsing performance is achieved without damaging sensitive components. At the same time, the high temperatures of 95°C ensure a maximum cleaning effect, so that work can be done quickly and efficiently.
It should be noted that our equipment has been explicitly approved by the German Armed Forces for cleaning helicopters.
In summary: Low investment, minimal space requirement, hardly any operating costs, no damages and no healt issues, but highly efficient and quality results in minimal time.
In the specific application, parts that are installed in turbines from GE needed to be cleaned. The parts were made of titanium and were perforated with holes with a diameter of 0.2 to 0.7 mm.
The parts cost between €1,000 and €40,000; therefore, the cleaning must not lead to any damage to the parts. Paraffin and test fluids that had settled in the holes had to be cleaned off, and the cleaning had to be absolutely perfect - no dirt residue was allowed to remain.
Until now, the parts were rinsed again and again in a washing machine with a rotating basket until a satisfactory result was achieved. Depending on the degree of contamination, several washing cycles had to be carried out. Despite all the care taken, the parts were repeatedly damaged, e.g. during transport to the washing machines.
In the low-pressure hot cleaning process, greasy and oily contaminants - in this case the paraffin and the test fluid - are cleaned with medium at up to 95°C and low pressure of up to 7.5 or 14 bar.
The gear parts could be ideally cleaned in the parts cleaning level of the 1000 series. The cleaning was done with hot water and 3% of our alkaline cleaner B1200.
The cleaning results were better than the previous method in every respect: although cleaning was now done by hand, less time was needed for cleaning by hand than for loading the washing machine several times, and travel and waiting times were saved. Staff members could immediately see where critical areas were and where additional cleaning was needed, and could thus achieve significantly better results much faster. In addition, the risk of damaging the parts during transport was eliminated because the hot cleaning device is mobile and could therefore be used directly on the turbine.
Low-pressure hot cleaning was the ideal solution here:
In summary: Low investment and minimal operating costs, but perfect quality, no damage to parts and significant time savings.
Over time, bacteria and germs develop in the jet fuel (paraffin) tanks of all aircraft types due to the formation of condensation in the jet fuel. In the worst case, these can damage the structure of the aircraft skin.
The paraffin tanks are located in the wings and are therefore very difficult to reach from the inside.
Previously, cleaning was done by hand. This involved an enormous amount of time and effort and was nevertheless not very effective.
Germs can be ideally cleaned off with the low-pressure hot cleaning process. For this purpose, the cleaning medium is heated up to 95°C - enough to loosen even stubborn germs. At the same time, the low pressure of up to 7.5 or 14 bar is sufficient to reach even the furthest corners and to rinse off contaminants without damaging sensitive parts.
In the tests we carried out, even the furthest corners could be easily reached and cleaned thanks to our long and narrow lances. If necessary, our telescopic lances or our push & pull lances can also be used. There were no splash-back effects and no damage.
All in all, a very good result could be achieved without aggressive chemicals, and thanks to the high efficiency, considerable working time for cleaning was saved at the same time.
Low-pressure hot cleaning was an ideal solution here:
In summary: Low investment and minimal operating costs, but excellent quality, no damage to the parts, improved occupational safety, and significant time savings.
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