AU Advanced industrial cleaners

A reinforced motorised platform with servo control lowers the basket into the bath and lifts it out, for loads from 200 kg on the AU-400 to 2000 kg on the AU-4000.

The servo drive moves the platform with a precision motor at an adjustable speed, so heavy loads are lowered and raised under control rather than by hand or hoist. The operator loads at working height and never handles the basket over the hot bath.

Rated loads: 200 kg on the AU-400, 300 kg on the AU-600, 500 kg on the AU-800, 750 kg on the AU-1000, 1000 kg on the AU-2000, 1500 kg on the AU-3000 and 2000 kg on the AU-4000; the AU-8000 on request. The AU is one tank: rinse and drying, where the process needs them, are separate machines.

Read more in the knowledge base

• When to choose a lift system
• Loading the basket: shadowing, orientation and how much is too much
• Safety around an ultrasonic cleaning tank

The platform moves the basket in the bath during the ultrasonic cycle, at a speed set in the programme.

Cavitation loosens the soil; the movement washes it out of pockets, bores and dense loads and keeps the debris from settling back on the parts.

Speed and pattern, from a slow lift to faster strokes, are stored with each programme, so a dense load of castings and a rack of light parts each get the movement that suits them.

Read more in the knowledge base

• Agitation in ultrasonic cleaning

A 24 I/O Siemens PLC stores eight automatic cleaning programmes, chosen on a 7-inch Siemens touchscreen with memory buttons.

Each programme holds ultrasonic power, temperature, laminar flow, agitation and cleaning time for one part family. The PLC monitors the cycle and gives an alert when something needs attention; a stack light with alarm shows the state from across the workshop.

The control connects to a secured wired or wireless IP network, so faults can be analysed remotely before a technician travels. An ecological mode is part of the control.

Multi-level water sensors detect a low level, and the tank fills itself, automatically or from the touchscreen.

Solenoid valves open when the level drops below the set point and close at the working level, which prevents both underfilling and overflow. Evaporation and drag-out are made up without anyone watching the level.

If the water supply fails or there is a leak, the system gives an alert. An automatic internal water flow mixes the bath, so temperature and detergent stay even through the whole tank.

Several sensors measure the bath temperature, with a safety limit; heating from 30 to 100 °C, from 12 kW on the AU-400 to 64 kW on the AU-8000.

In a tank of several thousand litres the temperature is not the same everywhere. Sensors at several points measure it, and a safety limit set in the control caps the bath temperature.

The heater is sized to the tank: 12 kW on the AU-400, 18 kW on the AU-600 to AU-1000, 24 kW on the AU-2000, 30 kW on the AU-3000, 32 kW on the AU-4000 and 64 kW on the AU-8000, so the bath comes back to temperature after a cold load.

Read more in the knowledge base

• Choosing the cleaning temperature
• Energy and running costs of an ultrasonic cleaning tank

A large external buffer tank with double filtration, oil separation with an oil skimmer and PLC-controlled laminar flow keep the bath in service between changes.

Overflow from the main tank runs into the buffer tank. Heavy dirt settles there, separation plates guide the oil to one side, where the skimmer takes it off, and the solution passes a coarse and then a fine filter stage before it is pumped back.

The laminar flow across the surface is adjustable from the PLC: it carries floating oil and dirt to the overflow, so they do not settle back on the parts when the platform comes up.

Read more in the knowledge base

• Filtration and bath life

28 or 40 kHz on 60 W transducers in submersible 316L boxes, from 96 on the AU-400 to 1160 on the AU-8000, driven by external digital generators with sweep, degas, pulse and dynamic.

The frequency is chosen when the machine is ordered: 28 kHz gives strong cavitation for castings, engine parts, carbon and heavy grease; 40 kHz gives finer bubbles for machined parts with small detail. Other frequencies are possible on request.

The generators sit in a rack outside the tank, and sweep keeps the sound field moving through the large bath. Ultrasonic power grows with the tank, from 5760 W on the AU-400 to 69 600 W on the AU-8000, about 9 to 14 W per litre.

Read more in the knowledge base

• 28 kHz or 40 kHz: which frequency cleans your part?
• Ultrasonic power density: watts per litre, and why big tanks need fewer
• Transducers and generators: what drives the tank

Complete construction in AISI 304 stainless steel with 2.5 mm tank walls, a sloping bottom and thermal and acoustic insulation.

The sloping bottom lets sludge and liquid run out completely when the tank is emptied. The insulated lid, opened and closed automatically, has a diamond-shaped drip profile that runs condensate back into the tank; the insulation keeps heat in and noise down.

Tanks from 400 to 8000 litres, with useful basket space from 930 × 700 × 325 mm on the AU-400 to 2800 × 1740 × 880 mm on the AU-8000; custom sizes on request. An air blow gun for drying parts is part of the machine, and up to the AU-2000 also lockable castor wheels and silent-block legs.

Read more in the knowledge base

• Tank material and wall thickness
• How to size an ultrasonic tank