Laser cleaning of waffle irons in production line

Number

168-EN

Section

General Section

Use

Sector

Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
Manufacture of food products
Other

Function

Cleaning agent

Process

Manual activities involving hand contact
Other

Product category

washing ad cleaning products

Application

Cleaning of waffle irons

Abstract

Food manufacturing and processing company cleaned waffle irons residues in a baking line automatically by a solid-state laser. Before substitution parts are manually cleaned with sodium carbonate and brushes.

Substituted substances

Sodium carbonate

CAS No. 497-19-8 EC No. 207-838-8 Index No. 011-005-00-2

Chemical group

Sodium compounds; carbonates

Classification: hazard statements

H319 Causes serious eye irritation

Reliability of information

Evidence of implementation: there is evidence that the solution was implemented and in use at time of publication

Reason substitution

other toxic effects

Other type of alternative

Laser cleaning (solid-state laser)

Hazard Assessment

Substance to be substituted: The substituted product sodium carbonate has no harmonised classification according to Annex VI of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation). Alternative substance: Laser cleaning is used as non-chemical alternative.

Description of Substitution

The company cleaned manual waffle irons in a baking line made of steel using sodium carbonate or steel brushes. Problem related to the use of this system was the breakage of the waffle irons. After that oil from the camps had to be removed and the baking line shut down. Also tiny pieces of wire were found in the waffles. Now the manufacture uses laser cleaning as an alternative.The new system has been integrated into the baking line. The laser cleaner CL 120 Q is ideal for cleaning smooth surfaces, hollow spaces and complicated geometries. A cleaning agent is here not needed, from this side there is no waste produced. The dirt is evaporated by high light energy, is caught to a lesser extent in the filters and goes mainly into the air.

Case/substitution evaluation

In this case story manual cleaning with sodium carbonate was replaced with non-chemical process laser cleaning. The new solution is safer for the described application.

State of implementation

In use

Date and place of implementation

2004 in Germany

Availability ofAlternative

on the market

Type of information supplier

Producer / distributor

Contact

http://www.clean-lasersysteme.de

Further information

More information could be found in the Cleantool-Database: www2.cleantool.org

Date, reviewed

November 26, 2021