Copyright: Lufthansa Technik

A cleaner engine works better and needs less fuel and less maintenance. Instead of conventional engine washing methods, Lufthansa focuses on efficiency - for example by utilising ifm sensors.

Since 2007, Lufthansa has been using a specially developed and efficient technology to wash engines, the water-based cleaning system Cyclean® (an artificial word created by concatenating "cycle" and "clean"). A wastewater collection system guarantees a clean and safe collection of the polluted water without any negative impact on the environment. Washing a PW1100 engine regularly with Cyclean® saves up to 80t CO2 emissions per year.

A number of ifm sensors play a role in this application:

Two O3M261 and two O2M200 sensors are, for instance, installed with an E2M250 switch. They are used for positioning at the engine and transferring the video image to the CR1201 12" display, which can also be seen in the video. This is where the corresponding engine data / dimensions for positioning are stored and selected.

An ifm CR7032 controller is additionally hidden in the control cabinet / behind the display. It controls movement of the table and the two pipes. Proximity sensors, limit switches and an O1D100 distance sensor are also used.

Reliable in both the winter and the summer:

More than 90,000 engine washes have already been carried out at over 40 washing stations worldwide. In the future, engines will also be cleaned with CO2 dry ice, since Lufthansa has now developed the Cyclean® dry ice technology; a unique, efficient and water-saving engine washing system that, for the first time, enables washing at outside temperatures below zero. Engines can thus be washed 365 days a year anywhere in the world.

More information and an application video can be found here