Increasingly companies and their production, continuous improvement & reliability teams are looking at ways to ensure performance of equipment and associated assets are optimised.
They are looking at ensuring failure and downtime, is eliminated, or at least significantly minimised, and obtaining the most effective performance from existing equipment & assets. The factors that matter are less downtime associated costs, less reject and scrap rates, increased end product quality and increased asset performance & reliability
Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) programmes seek to manage equipment reliability throughout it’s life in order to maximise performance and gain competitive advantage in today’s market. Irish industries are making a significant shift to reliability-centred strategies at corporate level and to an increasing extent, maintenance managers are becoming pro-active asset managers rather than re-active maintenance teams that just repair equipment.
An effective reliability-centered maintenance implementation examines all the functional systems within an asset that contribute to the success of that asset. Effective cleaning is one component but often overlooked.
Many RCM programmes focus on the oil and the environment of the asset, however according to Polar IceTech’s Managing Director, Damien McDonnell, overlooking the initial & ongoing cleaning programme of the asset is a significant failure in RCM strategies.
“In order to maximise the efficiency of an asset it must be cleaned in a way that allows all the other components or functions within the asset to perform at an optimum level.”
“Cleaning with abrasive methods will serve to weaken the asset surface overtime therefore reducing the life-span. Cleaning with chemicals or toxins is not just potentially damaging to equipment and components, they can also leave unwanted moisture and residues on the surfaces. Traditional methods also increase the risk of cross contamination of surfaces, oil or the product used within the asset as well as seep into delicate electrical equipment & circuitry.”
“Cryogenic cleaning or Dry Ice cleaning, is quickly becoming popular with RCM managers for a number of key reasons which collectively all serve to extend the asset life and reliability and performance from existing equipment:
- It’s non abrasive – no wear to critical components
- It’s non toxic – no risk to chemicals eating away at sensitive components
- It’s moisture free – eliminates the risk moisture seeping into and damaging electrical components & circuitry.
- It has significant decontamination properties (see results of our research into Dry Ice Blasting decontaminating against E Coli, Salmonella and Listeria)
“As a process it is known for the speed at which it cleans (reducing downtime), the superior level of clean it offers in comparison to traditional cleaning methods and the increased levels of equipment efficiency and reliability.”
Polar IceTech are the leaders in Cryogenic Cleaning Solutions in Ireland, offering contract services, bespoke automated systems and equipment sales, service and tailored hired packages. Over the last 12+ years we have grown & developed technical applications within key sectors including the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, Power Generation, Food & Beverage and Semi-Conductor sectors.
This 7 minute video offers an oversight into the various sectors the Polar IceTech team work in as well as the various surface and contaminant types.