KodiWasch Project
Development of a decentral plant technology for economic cleaning with liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide
Most of the intermediates and industrial parts need to be cleaned prior to further manufacturing steps or final packaging. Today, mainly wet-chemical processed are applied. Solvents are chlorinated and non-chlorinated hydrocarbons and wet solutions with tensides.
An alternative cleaning agent is compresed carbon dioxide. Liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide show a good solubility for fats and oils. Due to its low viscosity and surface energy carbon dioxide is suitable for the cleaning of bulk material and complex parts with cavities. In spite of these advantages cleaning processes using liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide have not yet been established in industrial parts cleaning.
Aim of a network project supported by German government and conducted by Fraunhofer IPK is the development of a decentral plant technology for economic cleaning with liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide. In addition, an environmentally benign, non-toxic solvent to become widely accepted shall be established which does not leave secondary wastes.