Up to what temperature can be cleaned in kolb systems?
kolb systems can operate with temperatures up to 80 °C.
The majority of kolb systems is designed to be able to clean with temperatures up to 80 °C. This feature is mainly (or only) relevant for customers who only clean with hot water (e.g. because of using water-soluble flux) or work with "historic" cleaners, which have a real efficiency window only at 60 °C to 70 °C.
Modern state of the art detergents on the other hand have a comparable degree of efficiency at a much lower temperature level. Research has made great progress in the development of these high-performance, low-temperature cleaners over the past few years. These modern, non-foaming detergents reach their application range already at 20 C to 45 °C and thus the necessary viscosity to clean e.g. 4 mil or even lower standoffs. They make the process more stable, extend the service life of the cleaner, save energy machines and materials.
This development is well known from the private sector. Thanks to modern detergents and washing machines (which nowadays do not even have any 90 °C hot wash programs) laundry is washed as efficient mainly with temperatures of 30 °C to 40 °C.
Washing with 60 °C instead of 90 °C saves energy between 47 % and 61 %, depending on the test-institute. The savings step down from 60 °C to 40 °C is even up to 80 % (!) and the one from 40 °C down to 30 °C is at least still up to an impressive 65 %!
Up to 80 % less detergent and energy consumption
These savings are also applicable for high end electronics cleaning. Cleaning at 30 °C compared to 70 °C results in 80 % less detergent as well as enegery consumption. Additional cost can be saved because concentration as well as steam control accessories are redundant along with high temperature heating options.
Low temperature detergents, in contrast to "historical" cleaners, also contribute to a more reliable and stable cleaning performance since there is no temperature related evaporation of the detergent's water content. Only for that reason low-temperature cleaners already offer a significantly higher process stability.
