To compliment the cleanroom services and to enable a successful extraction of the component contamination, multiple cleaning system techniques are available to best match with the component under test. The laboratory specializes in high performance cleaning and cleanliness assessment of heat exchangers, end tanks, pumps, turbochargers, housings, valve, injectors, fixings and other associated closed circuit engine components.
Many customers seek a high performance level of cleanliness rather than an, "as found" assessment of the cleanliness level and this process requires multiple flushing and extraction with various fluids and flow paths, whilst observing live optical particle counting before conducting the final extraction sample for microscopic particle analysis. The advanced clinical level microscopes from Olympus coupled with automated X,Y, Z traverse and automated particle analysis software allow a particle size determination to 2.5 micron with a 5 x 5 matrix, which exceeds the current levels of analysis specified in the ISO 16232:2018 standard. The particle analysis software can determine the individual sizes and number of particles in a given size range, and characterise the particles as metallic, non-metallic or fibre.
Particle analysis can be expressed per sample area, volume or component and is presented in tabular and graphical formats for both count and size. Photographic images can be captured and presented on the cleanliness report using a high resolution colour camera.
A typical Component Cleanliness Code (CCC) is reported in the format of: V(B12/C12/D12/E11/F9/G7/H6/I4/J3/K2) and with a Global Code of 14, where V represents assessment by Volume, and the letters represent particle range sizes and the numbers represent the contamination level particle count.
The Cleanliness Laboratory can undertake "as found" component cleanliness assessment and provide high performance component cleaning, backed up with a particle cleanliness analysis report.
