Two years ago, the Silberhorn MWS 4 was a focal point of the CleanTec Days. This multi-washing system (MWS) was the main topic of discussion at the Silberhorn open house. At this year’s CleanTec Days, held on June 19 and 20, that honour went to the Silberhorn MWS 6. This new chamber cleaning system seamlessly continues the success of the MWS 4. Silberhorn has been perfecting and further developing the MWS series in response to customer feedback and requests, pushing the design to its limits.
The CleanTec Days 2024 could be summed up as follows: 2 days, 2x12 technical presentations, tours, an unlimited exchange of ideas, exhibits from 11 Silberhorn partners and countless industry specialists in attendance. One of the biggest highlights: The world premiere of the new Silberhorn MWS 6.
The new Silberhorn MWS 6
In designing the new MWS 6, Silberhorn was primarily responding to customer requests for even more power. This “big sister” of the MWS 4 is mass-produced, extremely compact, technologically innovative and, thanks to a plethora of available options, can be perfectly customised to meet individual cleaning requirements. It also offers a significantly higher throughput than the MWS 4 and is even more efficient and extremely flexible in application.
Strengths and highlights of the new performance class:
- Optional 8-way swivel unit for the most challenging cleaning requirements (patent pending)
- Optionally available with 2, 3 or 4 tanks for cleaning liquids
- 4 types of cleaning: spray, flood and ultrasonic cleaning as well as scoop flooding
- 3 different types of drying
- Intuitive operation via HMI, the latest in control software
- Compact design: system fits into a 20-foot container (high cube)
- High throughput: basket size (LxWxH) 800x600x400 mm for max. 300 kg payload
- Flexible: instead of one large basket, it is also possible to use two small baskets per cycle – loaded with different parts (e.g. small parts in bulk + one large part of up to 400 mm in height)
- Easy maintenance: all system areas are accessible and easy to reach
- Scalable: The MWS 6 is designed to save space, allowing multiple systems to be lined up and linked up together
During the CleanTec Days, visitors had ample opportunity to observe the performance capabilities of the Silberhorn MWS 6, talk directly to the developers and explore the potential of this new design with respect to their own requirements. Countless visitors took us up on the offer. The CleanTec Days are the perfect platform to facilitate such introductions
Silberhorn innovations
At Silberhorn open house exhibitions, we don’t just focus on the here and now. We also look to the future. How are requirements in industrial parts cleaning changing? What will users need tomorrow, and what technologies does the company already have in the pipeline to meet those needs? Visitors to the CleanTec Days received answers to these questions straight from the source.
The Silberhorn Development Department offered some exciting glimpses into current projects. The exhibit featured innovations such as HIP and HIP+ alternating pressure cleaning. This allows for especially effective and gentle cleaning of geometrically complex parts, e.g. parts with fine-sized holes or undercuts.
The technology: For alternating pressure cleaning, the chamber is flooded. The parts are moved in a targeted manner, allowing most of the air to escape from the cavities of the component and filling these spaces with cleaning liquid. A vacuum is then generated in the chamber. Any remaining air pockets then expand and also escape. The vacuum is increased until just below vapour pressure. This results in the formation of vapour bubbles which push out the cleaning liquid, along with the dirt particles, even from hard-to-reach places. Next, the vacuum is released, fresh cleaning liquid is introduced, and the process starts over again. Even more effective: for stubborn, stuck-on residues, the system also uses ultrasound. The chamber then transforms into a sort of high-power whirlpool for parts cleaning.
Another innovative highlight of the open house was partial parts cleaning. This method will come to the forefront when already cleaned parts become partially contaminated in the production process – for instance, due to downstream milling operations or testing. To date, affected parts have had to be fully cleaned all over again. This is laborious, expensive and sometimes not even feasible – for instance if sensitive electronic components have already been installed. So what’s the solution? Silberhorn’s response to the problem is called “partial parts cleaning”. This innovative method utilises a sort of hood. This hood is placed over the contaminated area. All cleaning and drying processes are performed under the hood, highly efficiently targeting the contaminated area.
Discussing industry hot topics with each other and our partner companies
Many of the technical presentations dealt specifically with practical applications. The example of steel parts: Is it really still necessary to mechanically remove rust from steel parts, or might water-based industrial parts cleaning be a viable alternative? There was a presentation on this topic as well as on the potential effect of filter selection on bath service lives in modern cleaning systems and on when it makes sense to outsource parts cleaning to a cleaning contractor like Silberhorn.
The program also featured guided factory tours, theme islands and exhibit booths presented by participating Silberhorn partners. Once again, the CleanTec Days 2024 were a complete success.
