Laser Cleaning

Ice Blasting Alternative

 

Cost Effective and Environmentally Friendly

  • No masks
  • No chemicals
  • No abrasive consumables
  • No blast cabinets
  • No grinding wheels,
  • No noise
  • No Ice Blasting
  • And best of all – no mess to clean up afterwards!

Laser Cleaning for the removal of rust, paint, adhesives, mould release agents and 

post-weld cleaning (those nasty brown “tea -stains”) oxidation marks from any and all types of alloy metal surfaces.

See how the laser cleans the rust from this engine block without removing the barcode

(The barcode was consistently removed with Ice blasting)

Why Use Laser Cleaning?

 Reduced Downtime

A machine can often be cleaned either in-situ as an integral part of the operation cycle or done in the maintenance tool room in a cleaning cell

Cleaning Downtime can be dramatically reduced or even eliminated when Laser Cleaning is employed.

No Waste & No CleanUp

Unlike traditional abrasive cleaning techniques there is no need to dispose of the removed material.

There is very little residue and any residue that is created can  be collected using a low suction extraction system, setup near the interaction zone of where the beam is doing the cleaning. 

 

Improved Productivity

Very often the Laser Cleaning activity can be automated as part of your process and not only will this remove costly cleaning cycles with associated cycle time improvements , but an automated or motorised cleaning system has little or no labour costs.

No Consumables

Many traditional abrasive processes either require a large amount of costly consumables or special chambers to carry out the cleaning process. Laser Cleaning is completely self-contained and the only utility service required is electricity and maybe a supply of compressed air.

 

Completely Non Abrasive

Laser Cleaning is completely non-abrasive and is a powerful solution for applications where the maintenance of tight tolerances is required after the cleaning process has been completed. In general Laser Cleaning will remove only the contaminants on the substrate  and once removed, the process self-terminates as no damage or surface imperfections on the metal surface will occur.

Limited PPE

Laser Cleaning requires little training to operate safely and the only PPE required is a standard laser safety glasses to protect the eyes. 

No ear protection or gloves are required while in operation. 

 

Interested in trying Laser Cleaning for your Application?

LaserAge offers a contract Cleaning Service for routine maintenance at £750 per day.

Click below to book A Laser Cleaning trial for your application.

How Laser Cleaning Works

Laser cleaning provides a novel & innovative approach to surface treatment, for cleaning rust, paint or other deposits from many different types of surface. Where traditional abrasive or chemical cleaning solutions cause problems with waste or surface degradation, laser cleaning does not create any waste by-products and leaves the cleaned surface very close to its original finish.

Laser Cleaning is designed to replace surface blasting or high-pressure hosing and other traditional blasting methods that use materials such as dry ice, sand, glass or plastic as abrasive agents. In addition, however, a wide range of other cleaning methods that involve the use of hazardous chemicals, solvents, etc., can be cost effectively replaced by laser cleaning.

The unique feature of laser cleaning as a surface preparation solution is that it vaporises the matter to be cleaned immediately on contact. Treated surfaces are therefore left dry and clean, without any residues of detergents or blasting materials. The Laser Cleaning process is completely dry and can be used either online as part of a continuous process and can be combined into any production line requiring routine cleaning as part of the production cycle.

Where periodic cleaning is required the cleaning laser is very mobile and for the low power systems, even portable.  It can be moved into almost any location served either by 3-phase or 120/220V electrical supply.

LaserAge offers a contract Cleaning Service for routine maintenance and you can book a Laser Cleaning appointment here

Laser Cleaning produces no waste products as the cleaned material is effectively vapourised by the laser.

Laser Cleaning is ideal for removing coatings such as paint, grease, rubber, all types of hydrocarbons, mould release agents, oxides, organic materials (sugar and various ingredients in the baking industry)  – to name but a few of the materials we remove daily using the process.

Laser Cleaning will often not require any disassambly as the components can be cleaned in-situ and the laser cleaning head can access many tight locations.  There is little requirement for PPE or protective chambers for personne, asides from the standard laser safety glasses supplied with the machine.  Noise levels are also very low.

Laser Cleaning is non-abrasive, and surfaces are therefore treated very gently. The system can thus be used on easily-damaged surfaces like nickel, chromium and soft aluminium.

Who Can Use Laser Cleaning

 

Laser Cleaning is well suited to a wide range of industries, as can be seen from our customer portfolio, which includes such widely differing companies as Aerospace, Automotive, Bake Conservation & Restoration, Construction, Energy, Engineering, Government, Manufacturing, Marine, Medical, Tooling & Mould, Nuclear, Pharmaceutical, Print and Flexographic, Service and finally Transporation.

Laser Cleaning is ideal for removing coatings such as oxides, thin paint, adhesives, varnish, oil, grease, smoke damaged equipment / property and mould release agents– to name but a few of the materials we remove daily using the process.

As there are no cleaning agents, all of the removed material can be collected with a light vacuum and the whole process is extremely clean and portable. This makes the system highly suitable for industries that require a high degree of hygiene – the food and electronics industries for example or working in confined spaces.

Interested in trying Laser Cleaning for your Application?

LaserAge offers a contract Cleaning Service for routine maintenance at £750 per day.

Click below to book A Laser Cleaning trial for your application.