Dr. Darren Williams

PF: Why have you devoted much of your academic career to cleaning research?

DW: I’m driven to use my skills to serve others, make a difference and be a valuable contributor. During a solvent substitution project for the Department of Energy in 1998, I realized that very few academic researchers were focused on cleaning research. I found my niche. My Cleaning Research Group is improving the safety, effectiveness and environmental impact of cleaning processes. This is my way to make a difference serving others because every product ever made has to be cleaned.

PF: Do you foresee a large change in cleaning requirements in the U.S. similar to what VDA-19 did to Europe?

DW: The Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act amended the Toxic Substances Control Act and this will impact all companies that use n-propyl bromide, trichloroethylene, n-methyl pyrrolidone, methylene chloride and many other popular and effective cleaning solvents. Find out more at epa.gov/chemicals-under-tsca. As for European standards, they almost always impact U.S. suppliers. Many attendees of the Product Quality Cleaning Workshop were interested in VDA-19 and ISO 16232 requirements for particle contamination.

PF: What’s the best piece of advice you were given?

DW: There are three: My father said “the measured task gets done” and this has been both the secret to my success and an explanation of my failures. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Without counsel, plans fail; but with many advisers they succeed.” Ask questions, form teams and don’t try to do everything on your own. And James 1:19 says, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Listening, engaging in thoughtful dialog, and living a life of patience and grace will serve everyone in your sphere of influence.

PF: What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

DW: I was a clerk at Oshman’s Sporting Goods. My boss taught me to string tennis rackets. I had a marketable skill from that moment on. Even after I left Oshman’s, he would call me to come string rackets. I learned that when you have a skill that’s in demand, the work finds you.

PF: If you had $100,000 to give to a charity, which one would it be?

DW: I would support Camp Lone Star in La Grange, Texas, because of the positive character developed in my children by this church camp.

PF: What was your first car and what is your dream car?

DW: My first car was a 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass and my dream car is a 2020 Laramie Edition Dodge Ram pickup truck with “all the fixins.”

PF: What leadership traits have helped you along the way?

DW: “Overcoming the fear of the unknown” has been a key leadership trait. We naturally fear new locations, new bosses and new methods, procedures and processes. We can be paralyzed by uncertainty. But standing still is not an option. Get the bicycle moving and then you can steer it.

PF: What did you want to be when you grew up?

DW: I wanted to be something exciting like a fireman or an astronaut. Becoming a physical chemist who teaches precision cleaning techniques for liquid oxygen systems for the space program has met my goal.

PF: Night owl or early bird?

DW: Night owl.

PF: Favorite place you’ve ever lived?

DW: My hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.

PF: What organization or company, aside from your own, do you most admire?

DW: I am impressed with SpaceX as they have made seemingly impossible advancements in space vehicles.

PF: If you could trade jobs with anyone for a day, who would it be?

DW: I’d want to have the largest possible impact, so I’d choose the YouTuber PewDiePie. With his 102 million subscribers, I would have fun and would have a large platform for my thoughts and perspectives.

PF: Where would we find you on a typical Saturday?

DW: Flying remote control planes with my son, fishing with my daughter or running errands with my wife; all very enjoyable activities for me.

PF: Best way to keep competitive edge?

DW: In my business, you need to have lots of students on your team who are reading publications, trying new things in the lab and writing up their results.

PF: Personal heroes?

DW: My current heroes are the few academic professors who, at great personal cost, are taking a stand for free speech and constitutional values on today’s crazy college campuses.

PF: What’s your secret talent that no one knows about?

DW: I am a decent marksman.

PF: How do you motivate people?

DW: I tap into their intrinsic motivation to achieve, to earn and to learn new things.

PF: How do you motivate yourself?

DW: I align my to-do list with my priorities of service, discovery and impact.

PF: Three greatest passions?

DW: Love for Christ, love for family, and love for my neighbors.

PF: If you could pick up a new skill in an instant what would it be?

DW: Fluency in Spanish, Greek and Hebrew.

PF: Most unique office décor?

DW: Small gifts that my international students have given me from Sri Lanka, India, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Hungary and South Africa.

PF: Best business decision?

DW: Leaving my first academic job to take a job in industry. Seeing how chemistry is applied “in the real world” transformed by life.

PF: Worst business decision?

DW: Writing grant proposals or taking contracts just to get the money is a bad idea. If you take money for work you are not fully equipped to do, you will actually lose money when you account for the time needed to climb the steep learning curve. This may be necessary at the beginning so you can learn new skills, but it can be disastrous.

PF: Biggest management myth?

DW: “You have to bust heads to get people to work.” Not true. Find a person’s intrinsic motivators, find their hook and get them to grow into the job you have for them. If they refuse to advance, don’t be afraid to let them go.

PF: Do you collect anything?

DW: Koozies. They are functional, they remind me of good times, they don’t take up any space and they don’t break.

PF: What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago?

DW: Buy 100 bitcoin for $32,000 in 2009 and sell in 2017 for $1.97 million. Gold would have merely doubled in that time.

PF: Word that best describes you?

DW: Intentional

Sid Gulati, operations director at ActOn Finishing, with one of the firm’s vibratory finishing systems.

UK-based ActOn Finishing has installed a vibratory finishing system at Rolls-Royce Bristol to improve its cleaning process and increase productivity. The new system is said to enable the engine manufacturer to process three times more volume in a shorter time frame.

ActOn was contacted by the manufacturer to look at improving cleaning during its shelling process, which leaves a buildup of ceramic slurry on the equipment used. ActOn carried out live trials at its facility and found that the vibratory finishing machine was the right solution to clean parts quickly and consistently.

The machine, designed and manufactured by ActOn Finishing, has now been installed at Rolls-Royce Bristol, reducing the process time from 60 minutes to 10 minutes and enabling the firm to clean three times more equipment at once. The finishing machine has also reduced the firm’s water consumption while still achieving a cleaner finish.

Sid Gulati, operations director at ActOn Finishing, says that his firm has had a long-standing relationship with Rolls-Royce, having done subcontract polishing for the company for a number of years. “They contacted us about a problem that they were having with their cleaning processes, and although this kind of application was new to us, we were able to conduct trials and find a solution for the client.”

Henry Illsley, shell process engineer at Rolls-Royce Bristol, said: “ActOn were quick to develop a solution for the shell cleaning system. The machine has improved our throughput significantly and we are pleased with the quality of machine that they have manufactured and installed.”

“I’m so honored that even during these challenging and unprecedented times of a global pandemic we’ve been named a top work place,” says Mike Cicco, president and CEO of FANUC America. "This recognition is based on our employees’ feedback, and I’m proud they feel that FANUC is an ideal place to work.”

FANUC America’s achievements in 2020 include a number of new CNC and robotics products, a new facility in Alabama, national recognition for helping close the manufacturing skills gap and a first-ever virtual event.

The new 30i-B Plus Series CNCs incorporates technical upgrades and features designed to simplify five-axis machining. FANUC America has also expanded its CNC training offerings to include 5-axis CNC simulation. 

The Quick and Simple Startup of Robotization (QSSR) G-code feature allows FANUC CNCs to control machine-tending robots that provide assistance to machine tools. FANUC has also added a new CRX line of collaborative robots and two new entries to its high-performance SCARA line.

A growing customer base prompted FANUC to open a new regional office in Bessemer, Ala. to provide automation for a wide range of industries.

The U.S. Department of Labor recognized FANUC America and other industry partners for apprenticeship programs. FANUC’s education network includes more than 1,200 high school and post-secondary FANUC-certified automation training organizations, and over 150 university and career technical training partners.

FANUC held its first virtual event called “Take Control” on Oct. 19-22, and invites companies to visit the event site to learn more about automation. The event site includes “knowledge,” “solutions” and “exploration” zones.

The finishing of parts made from various copper and aluminum alloys traditionally require many distinct and separate process steps, and both come with their own unique needs. Below we discuss the specific challenges that come with finishing copper and aluminum.

Copper alloys that include 99.9% copper, berylium copper (97.75% Cu, Be 2.0%), yellow brass (65% Cu, 35% Zn), and cartridge brass (70% Cu, 30% Zn):

• Cleaners — most brass and copper processes currently utilize alkaline-based cleaners (pH over 7.0). While very effective at removing lubricants, oils and metal shavings, these do not offer any ability to remove surface tarnish or add brightness to the parts. Traditional acid-based cleaners are typically not effective at removing these soils.
• Deoxidation — acids are used to deoxidize brass alloys. Organic acid salts and/or strong mineral acids are normally used.
• Brightening — for parts requiring a high luster or more polished look, strong mineral acid bright dips or peroxide-based chemical polish is required.
• Final Seal — copper and its alloys are highly susceptible to tarnish so a seal or antitarnish is needed to preserve the finish.
• Waste Treatment — while not an actual step of the parts finishing process, the waste treatment process can be greatly affected by the chemistries used and copper waste generated.

Ka =the acid dissociation constant (Ka) is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution.

Aluminum alloys that include 1,000, 3,000, 5,000 and 6,000 series:

• Cleaners — aluminum parts can have difficult lubes, oxides and finely divided aluminum that must be removed.
• Etching/Smut — heavy alkaline or mineral acid-based processes can lead to over etching or smut. Smut removal requires additional steps using nitric acid.
• Equipment and Waste Treatment — silicates used in typical aluminum cleaners can reduce etch and smut, but contribute to scale buildup in equipment and waste treatment problems.

Some of the most challenging soils to remove from aluminum are lubricants made from stearates. These stearate lubes can react with aluminum during high-energy processes such as impact extrusion (deep drawn), making them problematic. Stearate contamination can lead to discoloration during heat treat steps, and adhesion issues during coatings or printing processes.

While these process steps have been proven over time, they present the following challenges:

• Many steps result in higher probability of a problem down the line, such as contamination and maintaining clean rinses.
• Handling of more hazardous chemistries, including concentrated mineral acids (sulfuric and nitric acids), fumes, peroxide stability, powders and dust. Copper, zinc and lead contamination in cleaner tanks requires chelators to prevent redeposition on parts and reduce scale buildup. These problems require more frequent tank dumps and maintenance. Over etching of parts results in rejects.
• Chelators interfering in waste treatment operations. Offsite waste disposal costs.
• Phosphates from cleaners.

 

The properties of methane sulfonic acid.

We now have more novel chemistry available to overcome these challenges, resulting in more effective process improvements. This chemistry allows us to combine cleaning/deox/brightening steps and mitigate waste treatment problems.

Process improvements can and should be obtained by working on all aspects of an operation. In a metal finishing operation, the following offer the best improvements:

• New or innovative chemistry.
• Improved equipment.
• Better process control.

The focus here, however, will be on innovation in process chemistry. As mentioned earlier, acid-based chemistry is a key component in the finishing of copper alloys. We need acids, but not all acids are created equal. There are two general classes of acids that can used — mineral acids (inorganic) and organic acids. There are some classes of organic acids that can give us the best of both worlds, including sulfonic acids and methane sulfonic acid.

Based on the organic functional group, –SO2OH, methane sulfonic acid can behave as a strong acid, similar to strong mineral acids, but without all the associated undesired properties and process problems. Another key feature of methane sulfonic acid is that it does not require chelate metals. This allows for spent cleaning solutions and rinses to be processed through standard waste treatment systems. Chelators can interfere with removal of metals from waste stream in a wastewater treatment system.

Brass parts before and after cleaning via oblique barrel. The new and improved process produced a brighter finish.

The surface preparation of nonferrous metals, such as copper and aluminum alloys, can be challenging and complex. The advancements in organic acid cleaners can help reduce the challenges associated with these alloys and also produce better quality parts in your process. This new organic acid chemistry technology, when formulated correctly, can contribute to significant process improvements such as reduced number of process steps, increased productively, quality improvements, and improvements in waste disposal and waste water treatment systems.

Mike Valenti is product manager – cleaners and nonferrous surface preparation at Hubbard-Hall. Visit hubbardhall.com.

Jeffrey Davis

Hubbard-Hall Inc. promoted Jeffrey Davis to senior vice president of business development and distribution, and Carter Burningham to director of supply chain.

Carter Burningham 

Davis directs business development and sales efforts in the Northeast, and leads the company’s strategic initiative for solvent cleaning in critical applications. Davis earned his master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Burningham is responsible for customer excellence as well as managing purchasing, vendor relations and logistics. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Utah and master’s degree in business from Westminster College with an emphasis in supply chain.

Hubbard-Hall’s Aquaease Infinity line of cleaners is a sustainable chemistry solution. The company says its line of cleaners and Arbortech membrane technology can reduce cleaning costs by 35% and reclaim 95% of production cleaners. Its goal is to reduce waste, biological oxygen demands (BODs) and rejection rates caused by oil-saturated cleaners.

Hubbard-Hall Inc.|866-441-5831|hubbardhall.com

Norton Saint-Gobain Abrasives (Worcester, Mass.) has introduced its BlazeX F980 Fiber Discs with premium ceramic alumina micro-fracturing grain for a wide range of grinding processes in stainless steel and harder-to-grind materials. The company’s Cool Friction technology dissipates heat during the grind, reducing rework and extending the disc’s life. Norton BlazeX F980 Discs are the latest addition to its BlazeX “Best Tier” portfolio, which also includes BlazeX F970 Fiber and Quick-Change Discs for carbon steel and soft-to-grind materials.

In addition to Cool Friction technology, a self-lubricating grinding aid treatment and active filler aid in producing cool cuts. The company says the disc’s micro-fracturing grain exposes sharper grain edges than blended ceramic alumina discs, delivering a higher cutting rate and longer disc life.

“Due to improved ceramic grain together with our new Cool Friction technology, self-lubricating grinding aid and active filler, there is a 50% increase in cut rate and disc life when using Norton BlazeX F980 Fiber Discs compared with Norton Blaze F980 Fiber Discs and other leading discs,” says Patrick Carroll, Norton Saint-Gobain Abrasives’ senior product manager.

The company recommends using its Norton BlazeX F980 Fiber Discs for grinding operations such as stock removal, deburring, beveling, blending, cleaning/detail and finishing. It sees opportunities for these discs in MRO, metal fabrication, welding, oil and gas, energy, ship building and foundry.

The Speed-Change BlazeX F980 Fiber Disc version features Norton’s tool-free, twist-on/off Speed-Change fastener. Discs lock to standard back-up pads with a unique nut design, and the company says removal is simple enough that the whole process allows for increased grinding time — and therefore productivity.

Norton offers its BlazeX F980 Fiber Discs in 36 grit; a standard ⅞" hole pattern; and 4 ½", 5" and 7" sizes.

Norton Saint-Gobain | 254-918-2313 | nortonabrasives.com/en-us

Osborn (Richmond, Ind.) has appointed Brian Cassady as its new chief executive officer. At the helm of Osborn, Cassady will leverage his extensive manufacturing and international experience to drive the company’s plans for continued growth.

“I am thrilled to join Osborn and take charge of leading the company to an even stronger position in the abrasives and polishing products industry,” says Cassady. “I look forward to being able to bring my operational experience to a team that is passionate about developing innovative products for our customers, building on an already illustrious 130+ year history as a global leader in surface finishing and polishing solutions.”

Osborn was particularly impressed by Cassady’s tenure as the chief executive officer at Fansteel Inc., where he led the turnaround of that manufacturer of complex engineered metal parts for aerospace, power generation and automotive markets. Fansteel was awarded the 2014 Turnaround of the Year Award by the Turnaround Management Association while under Cassady’s direction. Previously, Cassady was an interim executive and operating advisor for over a dozen companies throughout North America and Europe acquired by Sun Capital Partners.

Scott Papst, vice president of sales for Hubbard-Hall, recently spoke with Tim Pennington, Products Finishing contributor, about the company’s new Aquaease Infinity cleaners and Arbortech membrane technology.

Papst says the products can help shops reclaim 95% of their cleaners, reduce cleaning cost by more than 35%, cut down on waste and reduced reject rate caused by oil-saturated cleaners

“The cleaners are optimized to be used with membrane technologies. What's important here is we’re taking out the soils and oil from the product, yet leaving the surfactants behind,” Papst says. “When a typical facility dumps their cleaner baths, you could recover 95% of those chemistries. Most facilities will run their cleaner bath until the reject rate starts increasing, but here we're giving you a consistent output.”

Papst says that whatever parts a company is coating, the Aquaease Infinity products provide a more consistent process with less waste.

“When we talk about reducing waste, it's even on the backside, too, because it’s what’s going into your discharge effluent,” he says. “A big thing in plants now is phosphate discharges, VOD discharges and facilities are paying surcharges. But you don't have to take out what we've already taken out at the tank.”

Hubbard Hall is a 170-year-old, sixth-generation company that is in several metal fabricating markets where cleaning surfaces is important. The company also has introduced a paint stripping line called Aquastrip that is helping save costs.

“In paint stripping, many people do offline, whether it's burn-off ovens or sending it out-of-house,” Papst says. “They have multiple sets of racks and you have a lot of handling, you have transportation, and you’re waiting inevitably for the racks that you need that are not available.”

He says Hubbard-Hall has showed customers that by extending their paint line and doing stripping inline, they’re able to save money, including one customer of theirs that saved over $300,000 a year by making this switch.

“Envision a large facility that has two people running racks all three shifts a year, that's eliminated by doing it inline,” Papst says. “Many of the other technologies don't clean the racks, so you have conductivity issues on your powder line. You'll get a quality improvement and safety improvement.”

Visit hubbardhall.com.

Dr. Darren Williams and Lori Beckman

Dr. Williams, a professor at Sam Houston State University, has been involved with the Parts Cleaning Conference for many years, and is a long-standing member of the cleaning industry. Beckman is parts cleaning editor of Production Machining and Products Finishing brands, and will help provide attendees a quality program with a top-notch speaker lineup.

Dr. Williams teaches Physical Chemistry I and II, General Chemistry I and II, and graduate courses in spectroscopy and thermodynamics at Sam Houston State. He has authored over two dozen research articles and a book chapter on parts cleaning.

A recent grant from the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program — a joint program of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense — helped Dr. Williams to identify, create and test azeotropic blends for the replacement of trichloroethylene and n- propylbromide solvents in military vapor degreasing operations.

Beckman has been reporting, writing and editing content in Production Machining since 2003. She attends IMTS and PMTS regularly, and visits machine shops and OEMs to find the most valuable content for readers. She is also the parts cleaning editor for Production Machining and Products Finishing magazines, covering the manufacturing parts cleaning segment of the industry. She has attended the parts2clean trade show in Germany and aids in organizing the Parts Cleaning Conference.

The Parts Cleaning Conference gives attendees updated information on the latest cleaning technologies. As environmental limitations become stricter and manufacturers demand high quality clean parts, this conference will detail how to make it all happen, while staying within compliance and on budget. Visit partscleaningevent.com