| Aqueous cleaners are basically mixtures of water and | | | | organic substances. Different chemicals perform |
| surfactants. A huge proportion of these cleaning | | | | different functions and are, therefore, used for |
| agents is water which is an essential component of | | | | different purposes. Some dissolve and wash away |
| cleaning liquids. Some cleaning agents are only | | | | soil residues while another may melt fats and others |
| composed of pure water. Emulsifiers, dispersants, and | | | | are for final rinsing. The set of chemicals to use |
| wetting agents act as surfactants that are essential | | | | depends on what kind of dirt or residue you are |
| in carrying out rigid cleanup process. There is no single | | | | dealing with at the moment. Hence, determining the |
| type of cleaners because they are manufactured for | | | | chemical nature of the cleaning solution is important. |
| varying purposes. For example, some cleaners are | | | | Planning your cleanup procedures is essential for |
| formulated to treat water hardness, dissolve oils, | | | | cost-effective cleaning operations, from start to |
| inhibit corrosion, chelate inorganic soils, and rinse | | | | finish. Cleaning operations involve washing, rinsing and |
| equipment. | | | | drying. However, an essential process occurs before |
| Usually, the quality of the cleaner depends on the | | | | the cleanup starts, and that involves evaluation of |
| quality of the surfactant or surfactants used, which | | | | facility prior to cleaning to check which equipment |
| can be ionic (cationic/anionic) or non-ionic. Surfactants | | | | and areas need cleaning. This should also involve |
| as we know it reduces the surface tension of water | | | | preparation during which all equipment and |
| and this allows the cleaning solution to spread to | | | | instruments are checked to make sure they perform |
| surfaces easily and even seep into porous surfaces | | | | well and preparation of all necessary cleaning agents. |
| and gaps. A surfactant acts as a bridge between | | | | As implied earlier, washing involves removal of all |
| grease or any hydrophobic substance and water. In | | | | unnecessary elements (dirt, grease, residues, etc.) in |
| fact, surfactants give soaps their detergency. | | | | equipment and facilities. The next step is crucial and |
| However, the chemical nature of aqueous cleaners | | | | it's called rinsing. Rinsing removes all dirt and cleaning |
| alone does not guarantee effectiveness of cleaning. | | | | chemical residues. Washing and rinsing tanks, for |
| Other factors affect the effectiveness of the | | | | instance, require special cleaning equipment that can |
| cleaning procedure such as temperature, duration of | | | | send jets or sprays of cleaning solution and water |
| cleanup, concentration of cleaning agent, type of | | | | onto inner tank surface. All necessary equipment for |
| mechanical cleaning device, type of water, and the | | | | such purpose can be bought from suppliers of |
| expertise of people handling the operations. For | | | | industrial cleaning equipment. Aqueous cleaners |
| cleaners to be utilized to their maximum potential, the | | | | suppliers may offer a whole range of cleaning |
| ideal cleaning equipment must be used in operation. | | | | solutions for various purposes. Some may even offer |
| Such cleaning products are as a matter of fact | | | | products for treatment of waste oil. |
| mixtures of different chemicals, both inorganic and | | | | |