Liquid vs Solid Cleaners: Advantages and Practical Application of Alufinish Liquipower Cleaners

“Why should I change my cleaner to a liquid? There are more chemicals in a solid version.”

This answer and others are common when we propose a new liquid cleaner. Why change when the old one gives apparently satisfying results?

Liquid cleaners can have important advantages compared to solid cleaners. The most important argument is that the cleaning properties of liquipower have improved compared to the solid cleaners. Liquids can contain surfactant combinations that are not possible in the solid versions. The concentrations of the liquid cleaners have “improved” too. The standard concentration of the liquipower family is as it is for the solids, 40 – 60 g/l, where it used to be 50 – 100 g/l.

Surfactant Combinations Provide Improved Degreasing Properties

Another very important advantage of the liquipower cleaners is that the surfactant combinations provide improved degreasing properties. Together with other ingredients, this causes a longer, stable suspension of solids and oils in the solution. As a result, the lifetime of the cleaner is extended with a two-, or in some cases even a threefold. As a cleaner will never be without grinding residues, dirt, and solid suspensions, liquipower will become turbid in time, too. This sludge can be cleaned out easily by regular maintenance.

“But that is what I would do with a solid cleaner.” Yes, you would. The liquipower, however, contains no fillers. Fillers are a matter that has no other functionality than solidifying components in the cleaner. Some of them will deposit at the bottom of the tank while making up, and they will cause white incrustations on the tank walls and the heating tubes throughout processing. Liquipower will keep the installation clean and your heating system effective. Liquipower will, in time, even clean out the existing incrustations caused by fillers, giving the inside of the cleaner tank the outlook of the tank as if just installed.

No more persistent incrustation on the tank walls.The metal removal by etching in the liquipower cleaners has also improved. It has been brought down to < 0.1 g/ft2 in 15 minutes (50 g/l Alficlean 152, 140°F, AL5005). The fact that there is way less dissolved aluminum in the cleaning solution helps to extend the lifetime. Liquipower has a broad temperature range and works very efficiently up to 167°F. This could be of great help to cleaning buffing paste from the aluminum surface while keeping the gloss level at the highest level possible. This opens a wide range of applications for the liquipower. Besides the common applications of anodizing and pretreatment prior to coating, liquipower is applied in brightening-, can cleaning-, and even stainless-steel lines.

Practically Foam Free in All Applications

The application is decisive for the chosen version of cleaner, spray, or immersion. Sprayable liquipower cleaners will be practically foam-free in all applications. The addition of defoamers, extra renewal of rinses, and foam skimming from the surface are all history. In combination with the Alfisatin technology, liquipower will also reduce foam on the alkaline etch. The Alficlean liquipower products will help reduce the foam blanket on the alkaline etches. There are even solutions to reduce this to zero.

The monitoring capabilities of a cleaner were, besides the optical evaluation (water break, markers, or inks), always limited to the salt concentration. This method is okay for a cleaner with low throughput but will start varying when alkalinity is brought into the cleaning process. From that point and by titration, the concentration of the cleaner will go in every direction. Liquipower has eliminated this phenomenon. The addition of a specific component in the product has made it possible to analyze the product by spectrophotometer. This method is, also in the long term, very reliable and accurate.

The last reason to choose liquid cleaners is obvious, as they come in dissolved and can, therefore, be simply, automatically dosed in the process tank by a dosing pump. This provides a simple process management and avoids lows and highs in the product concentration.

Practical example dip application:

Changeover to Alficlean 152 – Anodizing line (Tank volume 2,900 gal: 11 m³, Throughput: 16 Mio ft²/year): 

Practical example spray application:

Changeover to Alficlean 169 – Can cleaning line. (two-step process with pre- and post-cleaning), Throughput: 100 – 200 cans/min

At left: Prior to changeover, strong alkaline cleaner, high foaming. At right: After changeover, Alficlean 169, Controlled foaming.

Changing to a VOC-free paint system and the therefore higher demand for a clean surface, Alficlean 169 has confirmed its value. Production tests have confirmed the improvement of the cleaner surface, so for Alficlean 169, there are no more restrictions.

An important criterion for developing liquipower was the environment. Part of the focus was on the development of borate-free versions. Borate-free versions are available for all liquipower products.

Liquipower Products – An overview 

Facts: Liquipower liquid cleaners make the work with the chemicals easier. Dosing, shorter process time, never-dump, and enhanced analytics all support an efficient process.

Visit https://alufinish.de/en