Showroom
Energy-Saving – Body Cleaning
Vehicle bodies leaving the body-in-white shop are covered with “drawing oil,” which must be completely removed before the body can be painted. The cleaning process produces a mixture of oil, grease, dirt, and water that until now could only be separated and disposed of via an energy-intensive ultra-filtration process.
However, a new technique developed at the Sindelfingen plant now reduces the amount of energy, chemicals, and wastewater involved. The team that developed the new procedure received the 2007 Daimler Environmental Award in the Production-Related Environmental Protection category.
The project was launched with initial systematic lab tests aimed at developing suitable tensides (photo), which are now being used to separate the water-oil mixture in a new unit that consumes much less energy. The result is a 65% drop in primary energy consumption and 75% less CO2 emissions. Plans call for the new technique to be introduced at other Mercedes-Benz plants.
