Keighley switches to aqueous cleaning
March 1st 2007

Heat treatment and metallurgical specialist Keighley Laboratories is joining a wave of organisations that are replacing their cleaning equipment with a more ecologically sound and efficient system.

The company has commissioned the installation of an Aquaforce Hotwash unit, a product developed by Rozone to provide a viable alternative to Trichloroethylene cleaning systems.

The new water-based process complies with the latest emissions legislation and is said to clean to a higher standard and to be up to three times faster than any current Trichloroethylene equipment.

Rozone's marketing manager, Beth Jones, believes that the Aquaforce system has many advantages over solvent-based equipment. She says "The aqueous detergent used by our product is less expensive than solvent, typically resulting in cost savings of thousands of pounds a year. As well as being around a third of the purchase price of a Trichloroethylene cleaner, the Aquaforce unit generates reduced costs on effluent disposal.

"Combine this with the fact that Aquaforce uses a neutral, biodegradable system that is kind to the environment and you can see why more and more businesses are investing in aqueous cleaning technology." Michael Emmott, heat treatment commercial manager at Keighley Laboratories, adds "We were pleasantly surprised not only to get better cleaning results, but to be able to remove a whole step from our existing process."