For many years, Böwe has maintained a worldwide reputation for high-quality, reliable drycleaning machines. It is a reputation that is supported by substantial investment in research and developing new drycleaning technology.
However, unlike many engineering-based companies, Böwe has also learned to talk to its customers, find out what is needed in the market-place now and what will be needed in the immediate future.
Drawbacks
Being German-based and at the heart of Europe has both drawbacks and advantages. Germany and northern Europe have the toughest environmental, health and safety legislation in the world. Machines that pass the stringent obligations and legal requirements of Germany and Scandinavia will easily meet those of other nations.
Where other countries are still debating the possible health risks of perchloroethylene, northern European governments have encouraged the introduction of hydrocarbon cleaning as a viable alternative.
Böwe has been developing machines and technologies for all the many environmentally-friendly solvents that are now beginning to be offered to drycleaners. The company, jealous of its reputation as the ‘Rolls-Royce’ of the industry, will not launch a new technology on to the market until it has been thoroughly tested and proved. Only when machine and solvent are operating to the high standards that have made the company’s name synonymous with reliability and quality will the company offer it to the public.
Nowadays, more and more drycleaners are working with hydrocarbon solvents instead of the tried and tested perchloroethylene. Sometimes it is from choice. It may be a drycleaner looking into the future and seeing a time when using an alternative to perchloroethylene will be necessary. Or, increasingly, the decision is forced on them by local residents, landlords or government legislation.
In Germany there are some 4000 perc machines in use and 1200 hydrocarbon machines but less than 10% of all new sales are perchloroethylene machines.
It is expected that the European Union’s forthcoming legislation on the use of volatile organic compounds will focus the minds of many drycleaning machine operators even further with legislation having a clause that requires the registration of perchloroethylene users.
Perchloroethylene is still seen as having a better cleaning action than other solvents but the environmental implications mitigate against it. Environmentally, hydrocarbon is the winner.
Hydrocarbon’s losses by evaporation are 12 times lower than perchloroethylene.
Its period of decay is only 10 hours.
No problems with decay products, no acid rain, no effect on the ozone layer.
low classification as a water hazard.
no toxicity where fish or amphibians are concerned.
biodegradable.
All these attributes lead to the conclusion that hydrocarbon, with its reduced environmental impacts will meet the requirements and limits set by national and international legislation, both now and in the future.
Since it is a reasonable assumption that other regions of the world will follow the North European example of encouraging benign solvent use, the sales of hydrocarbon machines are set to increase. It can also be assumed that the legislation on garment labelling will be tightened up. Hydrocarbon is the only solvent that professional cleaners can use on garments labelled with an F in a circle.
Working closely with the detergent manufacturers, Böwe is continually improving the performance of the hydrocarbon machines. By the use of optimised processes the company claims its hydrocarbon machines will produce results equal to those expected from perchloroethylene.When it comes to garment finishing, hydrocarbon shows advantages in reduced ironing time. Savings at the finishing end of the process can be up to 15%. Naturally, Böwe has followed the drycleaning trends and produced a range of hydrocarbon machines that covers all possible requirements that drycleaners may have.
The K50, K25 and K16 machines were manufactured to meet the demands of cleaners with high and intermediate loads, perhaps the most popular sector of the market. The K signifies hydrocarbon and the figure following the K specifies the loading capacity in kilograms.
Market research showed that there was still a need at the lower end of the market, the smaller shop was not really catered for, and so Böwe produced a 14kg hydrocarbon machine, the K14w.
It is an excellent example of the engineers working closely with the marketing department. The smaller machine will find many enthusiastic supporters, not only for its convenience and performance, but for its affordability.
Böwe’s reputation as being the best is not disputed but a high price tag came with that reputation. Now drycleaners can have the high quality, reliability and affordability all in one machine.
For small high-street shops taking in the normal run-of-the-mill clothing, the machine should prove to be ideal because that is the target group it was designed for.
Closed-cycle
For the technically minded it is a closed-cycle, blow-out free, dry-to-dry, two-step, vacuum-drying machine of modular design. It has double cartridge filters and the still is optional. If a purchaser decides at a later date that a still would be a good idea there is no problem as it can be easily retrofitted.
For on-line servicing a modem connects the machine to Böwe’s service department where on-line monitoring will prevent problems before they happen or on-line diagnosis will quickly solve them.
Other options are electric or steam still-heating, dosing and spray units. The K14w differs considerably from the usual Böwe hydrocarbon design in as much as it is specifically for small shops. It is of compact construction with a low electrical demand and low consumption of water and chemicals. Simplicity of operation is a key factor.
Three patents have been taken out on this machine. They are:
the two-step drying process.
the cyclone to avoid drop entrainment.
automatic extraction ramp for optimum garment distribution combined with a direct drive.
The machine can be operated with or without a still.
Removal of the dirt, pigment, grease and dyestuffs is performed by using a two-step cartridge filter system. For pigment dirt separation there is a filter surface of 7sq m. Soluble dirt is removed by absorption using a mixture of activate carbon.
In the machines that do have a still, which can be retrofitted quite easily, up to 35% of high-level liquor can be recovered per cycle. If required an automated program allows distillation of the entire tank contents with intermediate deposition in the cage. There is a level sensor to control the feed up to the still.
Under vacuum
With external steam-heating the operational capacity of the still is 0.5 litres per minute; with electrical heating the capacity is reduced to 0.35 litres per minute with cycle distillation. The distillation process is performed in vacuum.
In fact, the two-step drying process is completely new. The first step involves heating up to a garment temperature of 45oC and is performed under normal pressure. This is at least 10oC under the solvent flash point. Then, 60% of the air is pumped out producing a partial vacuum. A pressure sensitive device guards against fire or explosions so that no nitrogen bottle is needed to provide a nitrogen blanketing facility.
A controller that measures both time and volume is effective in shortening drying times and eliminates the need for expensive refrigeration equipment that can also be both expensive and unreliable. The solvent is water cooled in a thermostatically controlled heat-exchanger.
The consumption rates of the new machine vary with which ever model is chosen. Obviously, an electrically-heated still will consume a higher amount of electricity but the K14w with a steam-heated still will use around 10.9kWh, 170 litres of water, 6 litres of compressed air and, with a cycle time of between 45 to 50 minutes, the cartridge life is 200 cycles.
The dimensions of this small machine are a key feature. The width is 950mm, depth 2130mm and height 2245mm. Its footprint, including an integrated safety trough, is just 2.02m square. The machine will pass through any standard shop door and with such a small space requirement should fit in any reasonable sized shop.
For drycleaners thinking of changing to hydrocarbon the K14w would make a good introduction to the technology.
It is uncomplicated, easy to operate and there is little to go wrong. Maintenance and servicing requirements are said to be low. Learning the slightly different techniques required for hydrocarbon cleaning should not be a problem for the professional drycleaner and the solvent may offer the opportunity to process garments that may not have been possible with perchloroethylene.
Many drycleaners changing to hydrocarbon have exploited its environmental benefits by telling their customers that they have invested in the new technology for environmental reasons, every garment cleaned is a ‘green piece.’ This has proved an effective marketing tool as almost everyone is sympathetic to environmental protection as long as it does not cost them money.
The machines, although compact and competitively priced, come with the Böwe CS3000 computer processor with clear text display in eight languages. The machine can be interfaced on-line with Böwe services.
The cartridge filter system guarantees optimum solvent quality with no pre-coating necessary and cartridges can be exchanged in 5 minutes as the small cartridges are so easy to handle.
The technology, using a cyclone to avoid drop entrainment, has reduced dry times by about 10% while the design guarantees an integral safety that does not require nitrogen blanketing. The flash point of hydrocarbon solvent is 55oC.
Choice
At the recent exhibition in Frankfurt, drycleaners were shown drycleaning machines of all sizes, colours and solvent use. The choice is already out there but on close inspection, many of the new technology machines were still obviously prototypes.
Without a doubt new solvents will gain ground but for the gambling man, hydrocarbon’s proven track record must make it the best bet.
Böwe is of the opinion that its small, low-cost hydrocarbon machine will satisfy the needs of established drycleaners looking for extra capacity or wanting to familiarise themselves with the technology. The smart money is also on attracting entrepreneurs who will be tempted to exploit a new market segment.
