Kumi News Archive

VW cleans oil coolers with minimal solvent consumption

VW in Hanover, Germany has replaced ageing washing and degreasing plant with two new PERO V2-Universal vacuum solvent vapour degreasers. The PERO units allow VW to clean 1200 tonnes of aluminium oil cooler components a year using just 358kg of solvent the equivalent of only one gram of solvent per basket of parts! PERO systems and solutions are distributed exclusively in the UK by KUMI Solutions of Kenilworth.

"We simply had to do something", declares Reinhard Ludwig, a key figure in oil cooler planning at the VW factory in Hanover. "Our old unit had become notorious for its ever increasing maintenance, repair costs and high consumption of neutral detergent."

With a general overhaul imminent VW began to weigh up its options: should the new plant work with an aqueous solution like the old machine, or with an organic solvent?

"Water is not the only solution", states Robert Huber, sales manager with PERO. "Aqueous systems pose their own problems with regard to protection of the environment and compliance with the latest wastewater regulations. Aqueous plant also requires constant monitoring and frequent cleaning of the baths."

These reasons, along with lower costs, improved process safety and better cleaning results were the primary factors why PERO subsequently proposed a solvent-based washing and degreasing system to VW.

Read the Full Article (PDF - 439KB)

Press Photography

1.82MB	2.30MB

To save images right click thumbnail and select 'Save Target As..'