Classification and application of metal cleaners

With the continuous acceleration of industrialization, metal products are increasingly widely used in our lives, and metal cleaning agents are becoming more and more important as an important tool to maintain the cleanliness of metal surfaces.

Classification of metal cleaners

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<!--[endif]-->Acid cleaning agent: generally only used for the cleaning of ferrous metals. Acidic chemical cleaning agents have been gradually eliminated due to their greater harm to the environment and human body.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<!--[endif]-->Alkaline cleaners: Alkaline cleaning is usually done using alkaline chemicals such as caustic soda. It uses the dispersion effect of alkali on oil pollution to achieve the cleaning effect, and it can also be cleaned at room temperature, but the cleaning effect is not ideal, and the cleaning effect of alkaline cleaning on oil pollution has certain limitations.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<!--[endif]-->Water-based cleaning agents: Water-based metal oil cleaners are generally neutral or weakly alkaline. The main cleaning principle is to use the emulsification, penetration, dispersion and anti-redeposition ability of surfactants to clean oil and dirt.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<!--[endif]-->Semi-aqueous metal cleaning agent: Semi-aqueous metal cleaning agent is prepared into oil-in-water or water-in-oil cleaning agent by using water and solvent as the cleaning medium and using the emulsifying effect of the active substance. Its cleaning ability combines the advantages of water-based cleaners and solvent-based cleaners, but the main factors hindering its adoption are the fewer applications and higher costs.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<!--[endif]-->Solvent-based cleaners: Solvent-based metal cleaners refer to organic solvents, and the more widely used hydrocarbon cleaners also belong to this type of cleaning agent. Its cleaning effect is good, but it cannot clean water-based dirt, such as handprints, etc., and water-based dirt must be cleaned with water-based or semi-water-based cleaning agents.

The main factors that affect the cleaning effect

Metal cleaning agent is a commonly used chemical cleaning agent, which is mainly used to clean oil, rust, carbon deposits and other pollutants on various metal surfaces. In the process of using cleaning agents, there are four main factors that affect the cleaning effect:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<!--[endif]-->Cleaning temperature: The temperature at the time of cleaning has a great influence on the cleaning effect of the metal cleaning agent. In general, the higher the temperature, the better the cleaning effect. This is because at high temperatures, the active ingredients in the cleaning agent are more active and the stain removal effect is more significant. Conversely, at low temperatures, the active ingredient of the cleaning agent is greatly limited and the cleaning effect is reduced accordingly. Therefore, when using metal cleaners, attention should be paid to the temperature to ensure that the product is used to the maximum effect.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<!--[endif]-->pH: There are various dirts on the metal surface, which can be divided into oil-soluble and water-soluble. Pickling is mainly used to clean water-soluble dirt, mostly rust and scale on the metal surface. In industrial oil cleaning, alkaline cleaners are more widely used than acidic cleaners. Industrial oil stains contain a large amount of mineral grease, and the surfactant in the metal oil cleaning agent plays a key role in the cleaning of mineral grease and can effectively reduce the tension of the surface oil stain. In addition, if you clean amphoteric metal equipment such as aluminum, zinc, and tin, it is recommended to use a neutral environmentally friendly metal cleaning agent, which will have a more significant effect.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<!--[endif]-->Type and concentration of contaminants: The type and concentration of contaminants also have a significant impact on the cleaning effectiveness of metal cleaners. Different types and concentrations of contaminants require different types and concentrations of metal cleaners. For some contaminants that are difficult to clean, the most suitable cleaning agent formulation and concentration can be determined by means of multiple tests, etc. In addition, the type and concentration of contaminants can also affect the interaction between the cleaning agent and the contaminant, which in turn affects the cleaning effect. Therefore, when using metal cleaners, it is possible to formulate the optimal formulation of metal cleaners according to the type and concentration of contaminants.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<!--[endif]-->Cleaning agent formulation: Surfactants have the greatest impact on the cleaning effect of metal cleaning agents. Surfactants have fixed hydrophilic and lipophilic groups, common hydrophilic groups include sulfuric acid groups, amine groups, etc., and lipophilic groups are represented by long-chain alkanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Due to their hydrophilic and lipophilic properties, the surface oil tension can be reduced when the metal workpiece is cleaned, so as to achieve the cleaning purpose. In addition, the wetting, foaming, solubilizing, and defoaming properties of different surfactants are also different. Therefore, when choosing a metal cleaning agent, it is necessary to consider the influence of the formulation on the cleaning effect.

Although there are many factors that affect the cleaning effect of metal cleaning agents, in order to obtain better cleaning results, it is still necessary to choose the most suitable type and concentration of metal cleaning agents according to their actual conditions, and pay attention to the influence of environmental conditions, pollutant types and concentrations, formulas and usage methods and other factors on the cleaning effect.

Care should be taken when selecting metal cleaners

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<!--[endif]-->Pay attention to the concentration of the cleaning agent: the concentration of the cleaning agent is closely related to the cleaning effect, generally speaking, with the increase of concentration, the decontamination ability is also correspondingly enhanced, but after reaching a certain concentration, the decontamination ability is no longer significantly improved. Generally, the concentration should be controlled at 3%-5%. If the decontamination effect of the detergent concentration prepared according to the product instruction manual is not satisfactory, the detergent concentration should not be increased, but other formulations of detergent should be selected.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<!--[endif]-->Master the temperature of the cleaning agent: Normally, as the temperature of the cleaning agent increases, its decontamination ability also increases, but after a certain temperature, the decontamination ability decreases. Therefore, each cleaning agent has an optimal temperature range, and the higher the temperature, the better. In particular, when the non-ionic cleaning agent is heated to a certain temperature, the cleaning agent will be turbid, and the temperature at this time is called "cloud point", the solubility of the active agent in the water decreases, and some components lose their effect due to thermal decomposition, and the decontamination ability is reduced. Therefore, the temperature of non-ionic cleaners should be kept below the cloud point.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<!--[endif]-->Master the use time of the cleaning agent: The cleaning agent formulated at one time can be used many times, and its use time mainly depends on the number of cleaning parts and the degree of contamination of the cleaning agent, in general, the cleaning agent prepared at one time can be used continuously for 1 week - 2 weeks. In order to save the amount of cleaning agent and improve the cleaning quality, the cleaning sequence should be reasonably arranged according to the characteristics of the parts. For example, cleaning the main parts and the less dirty parts first, and then the minor parts and the dirtier parts can extend the use of the cleaning agent.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<!--[endif]-->Pay attention to the type and nature of parts dirt: The types and properties of car parts dirt vary greatly, including solid oil stains such as oil sludge, scale, carbon deposits, rust, and liquid oil stains such as lubricating oil and grease residues. Scale and rust are commonly removed with descaling and cleaning agents, and other oil stains and grease can be cleaned with heavy oil cleaners.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<!--[endif]-->Prevent parts from being corroded: For copper, lead, zinc and other parts that are easy to be corroded, as well as parts of precision instruments and meters, it is necessary to choose a cleaning agent that is close to neutral, less corrosive and has strong anti-rust ability.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<!--[endif]-->Consider the cleaning conditions: if there are steam heating conditions, a high-temperature cleaning agent can be used; When manual cleaning is mainly used or the parts to be cleaned are not suitable for heating, low-temperature cleaning agents are used; When using mechanical cleaning and pressure spraying, use a low-foaming cleaning agent.

To sum up, in today's widely used metal products, metal cleaning agents are an important tool to keep metal surfaces clean. The article introduces in detail the classification of metal cleaning agents, including acid cleaning agents, alkaline cleaning agents, water-based cleaning agents, semi-aqueous cleaning agents and solvent-based cleaning agents and their respective characteristics. The main factors affecting the cleaning effect were described, such as cleaning temperature, pH, type and concentration of pollutants, and cleaning agent formula. It also points out the aspects that need to be paid attention to when selecting metal cleaning agents, including the concentration, temperature, use time, type and nature of part dirt, prevention of parts corrosion, and cleaning conditions. Through the detailed description of these contents, users can fully understand the relevant knowledge of metal cleaning agents, so as to choose the appropriate metal cleaning agent according to the actual situation, and pay attention to the relevant influencing factors during use to achieve the best cleaning effect.