Paint stripping and Plastic Removal

Fluidized bed - thermal cleaning, paintstripping and plastic removal

paintstripping hooks and jigs from paint line

Advantages of fluidized sand bed cleaning system



  • fast, reliable and perfect cleaning,
  • very short cleaning cycle time (40-60 min),
  • very high volume cleaning,
  • safe cleaning system, loading with closed lid
  • perfectly controlled temperature, PLC controlled
  • low maintenance, long machine life
  • no deformation of parts due to homogeneous temperature
  • environmental friendly due to ceramic filter, postcombustion

The SCIROCCO "suspended sand” fluidised bed is an effcient and high quality system for thermal cleaning of metal tools and machine parts, the recycling of cast iron molds or the incineration of any organic waste. The system provides very fast, safe and efficient combustion in an environmentally friendly way. The Scirocco 'sand bed' is designed for high volume cleaning and applicable in paint stripping, plastic removal, grease or rubber removal and is also used for the incineration of waste water sludge and to free castings from the sand.


In a first step organics are evaporated at a temperature of 420°-480°C and oxidised without combustion occurring. In a next step the sand gently rubs off the inorganic residue from the surface of the parts to clean. The standard cycle time is less than 1 hour, depending on the type and degree of organic coating to be removed and the weight of the parts. During the cleaning cycle a second basket can be loaded, saving valuable time.

A ceramic filter and afterburner-installation ensure emissions complying with any stringent environmental legislation. A heat exchanger can be added for the re-use of heat and energy. The Scirocco fuidized bed is an advanced thermal cleaning system for a perfect and environmentally friendly high capacity use, designed and produced for 7/7 and 24/24h operation and available in standard and customized sizes.

Applications of fluidized bed thermal cleaning system


  • paint stripping of hangers, skids, hooks, jigs, grids
  • plastic removal from filters, screw tips, breaker plates
  • cleaning extrusion dies, injection molding parts
  • hotrunner cleaning
  • thermal removal of plastic, rubber, grease, resin
  • sand mold recycling form die casting

Fluidised bed working principle for thermal cleaning

Fluidized bed thermal cleaning system

The fluidized bed reactor contains calibrated sand. By the injection of air and gas, the sand is brought in a liquid-like state (suspended sand particles). The reactor is heated up to a homogeneous temperature in the range of 420–450°C. In this condition, the suspended sand becomes a powerful reactor, in which a fast and complex physiochemical process will evaporate and strongly oxidize any organic material.

Once the sand has reached the stand-by temperature, parts to be cleaned, stacked in the carrier, can be submerged in the bubbling fluid bed reactor. In the first phase, which takes 10-20 minutes, light organic compounds and binders quickly evaporate due to the intense contact with the hot silica sand, and are substantially oxidized at relatively low temperature, to harmless inert gas.


Subsequently, the remaining heavier hydrocarbons are completly oxidized within the reactor, while the inert fraction of the contamination is blown out of the reactor as all organic binders have vanished. During the second phase, a light mechanical cleaning action caused by the bubbling sand will sustain the process. After an average of one hour, the two phase cleaning process is finished: the organic fraction is eliminated, and the inert fraction is blown out of the reactor with the exhaust gases.