Using Lasers for Cleaning
Surface cleaning through traditional methods
Surface Cleaning is one of the important steps in the processing of materials. Interestingly, surface cleaning by mechanical or chemical processes (e.g., media blasting and dry ice blasting) is prevalent in most of the industries. These methods are complex, time-consuming, and involve a lot of labour. In addition, these methods will produce waste, have precision issues, and can be dangerous to the environment.
Surface cleaning through Lasers
Laser-based surface cleaning, on the other hand, is a contactless processing method in which no chemical or mechanical force is involved. Cleaning operations have long been a difficult application for industrial lasers because of the significant variation of target materials, often worn and weathered by the time removal becomes necessary. Cleaning operations have long been a difficult application for industrial lasers because of the significant variation of target materials, often worn and weathered by the time removal becomes necessary. The parametric flexibility of the newest laser sources is equal to the task, allowing parameters to be “dialed in” to the susceptibility of the target, and allowing for sequential steps toward the end goal. And due to negligible waste generation after processing, laser cleaning is regarded as environment friendly technique. In the traditional methods like media blasting and dry ice blasting, surface (substrate) damage is inevitable. Coating removal chemicals ultimately react with the surface of the substrate and cause irreversible damage. Whereas laser cleaning provides very high precision with good reproducibility. Laser cleaning has high potential in future industries as they offer these advantages at a lower cost than conventional methods. Due to increased attention, laser hardware is getting continuous upgrades and different sorts of laser sources appear on the laser cleaning market.
Laser cleaning: an inherently energy-efficient technology
Laser cleaning is an eco-friendly process by design
PhotonClean highlights laser cleaning as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods such as sandblasting or chemical cleaning. This has a direct impact on energy consumption:
- No consumables (no abrasives, no chemicals), meaning no energy spent producing, transporting, or disposing of those materials.
- The cleaning process relies only on light energy, converting electrical power directly into a laser beam with minimal losses.
In short: it’s not just about low electricity usage during operation, the entire cleaning process has a better overall energy balance (including upstream and downstream energy use).
Is Laser cleaning Good for me?
Laser Cleaning questions answered
What is laser cleaning and how does it work?
Laser cleaning system distributes thousands of focused laser pulses per second onto the target surface. These powerful beam pulses are linearly deflected & placed adjacent to each other. Most laser energy is absorbed by the target surface, creating micro-bursts of plasma that decompose the target layer/coating/contaminant through sublimation. Thermal energy is rapidly dissipated as laser-vaporized residues are removed from the substrate. Process speed relates to the laser energy absorption properties of the target material & laser power as measured in watts.
Does laser cleaning damage the underlying surface?
The substrate material, unlike the target contaminant or coating, normally reflects laser beam energy rather than absorbing it. Once a reflective substrate material has been reached, the laser ablation process automatically stops. Due to typically high reflection factors, metallic surfaces are especially suitable for laser cleaning. Precise laser beam adjustments enable treatment for many applications without undesirable mechanical or thermal effects to the substrate.
Where does the stuff removed by the laser cleaning go?
An integrated suction system provides continuous vacuum at the laser target interface. This immediately captures ablated contaminants, vaporized coating fumes & particles, which are pulled through a hose to a modular fume extractor with high efficiency particle & carbon filters. Laser cleaning … a dust-free process with nothing to clean up!
The Benefits of Cleaning Without Consumables
With the advance of laser technology in surface cleaning, manufacturers are becoming aware of the extent to which laser cleaning can help them. From the automotive and aerospace industries to more general industrial applications, many uses of this revolutionary cleaning technique are still unknown.
Best performed using a pulsed laser, laser cleaning can replace traditional cleaning methods to remove rust, oxide, paint and other contaminants from metal surfaces. Emerging applications include weld cleaning, mold cleaning, tool cleaning and surface preparation.
The Laser Cleaning Advantage
| Laser Cleaning | Chemical Products | Sand Blasting | Hand Cleaning | Laser Cleaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precise/selective cleaning | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| No consumables needed | X | X | X | ✓ |
| No collateral waste | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| No infiltration | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| Can clean sensitive parts | ✓ | X | X | ✓ |
| Low noise operation | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| Possibility to clean in motion | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| No rinsing/drying | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Possibility to clean hot tools/parts | X | X | X | ✓ |
| No need to dismantle tools/moulds | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| Minimal work area required | X | X | ✓ | ✓ |
| Low power consumption | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ |