High quality component cleaning and a clear endorsement of the move towards environmental improvement are the key benefits associated with the use of MecWash parts cleaning equipment by one of the country's leading aerospace component manufacturing organisations. A series of MecWash cleaning stations is now operational at the Birmingham premises of Goodrich Control Systems and are key elements in a number of manufacturing cells - each of which produces complex, high tolerance components from aluminium castings and forgings for major aerospace engine manufacturing customers.

The organisation is using two MecWash Mini 300 wash stations, supplied complete with Aqua-Save wash water recycling systems, and two Cellwash units - all of which provide high quality aqueous cleaning. Significantly, this has helped Goodrich to move away from the use of trike-based solvents - an important factor in both achieving and maintaining ISO 14001 environmental accreditation.

The two MecWash Mini installations are central to manufacturing cells that produce valve assemblies and prismatic parts for civil and military aircraft. Each component is high value - typically worth in excess of six figures - and is necessarily highly complex in design, often to minimise space and weight. Components feature a large number of machined holes, blind drillings and galleries which need to be thoroughly cleaned to optimise performance.

Each wash unit is designed and built around a rotating drum within which products are either located in specially tailored jigs or wire-tied inside mesh baskets. The wash programme proceeds through flood wash and rinse, spray wash and rinse, hot air and vacuum drying stages with resultant components emerging clean and thoroughly dry - ready for onward manufacturing operations and assembly with corresponding pistons, gears and bearings.

Not only does each MecWash Mini achieve these high standards but to date it has required zero disposal of wash solution as a result of the in-built Aqua-Save wash and rinse water recycling system. This eliminates the costs and downtime associated with effluent discharge and is designed to keep wash solution in near perfect condition for extended periods of time.

Paul Sollers is Goodrich Control System's Prismatics Improvement Manager at the site and highlights the thinking and procedures behind the decision to install the self-contained, stand alone MecWash Mini's -

"Clearly the aerospace fuel system parts which we produce - primarily pumps and fuel metering units - are vital operational components so the highest quality of manufacturing is paramount," he says. "Component washing is clearly an important factor in this context and is undertaken to remove both machining oils and swarf ahead of gauging and NDT operations.

"We undertook detailed laboratory trials and comparisons of the MecWash unit with alternative systems," he explains. "Our conclusion was that, apart from the high quality of performance, the environmental and cost effectiveness benefits associated with the Aqua-Save as well as the overall support and input from the company itself, were key factors - hence our decision to install the MecWash Mini's."

Built into the frames of the Mini wash stations, the Aqua-Save systems continually recover and reuse the wash water - removing the need for disposal whilst, at the same time, maintaining water quality. The only effluent resulting from the system is a concentrated waste which represents less than 3% of the tank volume. The system draws water from the heated wash tank and uses its latent heat, combined with a vacuum, to evaporate and recover the water leaving only the contamination behind. The cleaned water is returned to the wash through the rinse tank thereby maintaining high quality rinse and wash waters while the concentrated contamination is periodically drained into a container for disposal.

"We defined a series of key ISO 14001 milestones both to achieve and then maintain the environmental standard accreditation," explains Paul Sollers. "Central to this was the replacement of trike solvents with more acceptable cleaning methods and clearly the MecWash systems - both the cleaning process itself and the Aqua-Save - reflect this overall commitment."

The installation of the Mini 300 units follows the use by Goodrich Control Systems of two MecWash Cellwash units. These too are located within manufacturing cells and are used to clean components at several stages during a manufacturing process that includes pre-treatment, grinding and heat treatment operations.

"Primarily the Cellwash units remove oil and lapping paste from valves and sleeves," comments Ian Bowen, Principal Manufacturing Engineer at the company. "The decision to install the units was also part of our drive away from the use of trike-based solvents," he adds, "and they are versatile enough to handle a range of component quantities in one single wash operation." He points out that each cycle, which comprises wash, rinse and hot air drying stages, can handle between one and twenty components located within a specially designed fixture in the wash basket.

With a growing commitment in manufacturing and engineering to matching production performance with environmental improvement, the MecWash approach to component cleaning clearly has much to offer. These are tangible benefits which are now being enjoyed by Goodrich Control Systems and its customers alike.