Recently, Laser Photonics Corporation (hereinafter referred to as: LPC) claims that it has successfully won the order from ES Fox Limited to provide CleanTech 500-CTHD laser cleaning system.
Founded in 1934, ES Fox Limited is a recognized leader in the industrial manufacturing and construction sectors in Canada. Its nuclear services division devotes millions of hours to supporting Ontario's nuclear power industry.
The system is understood to be used in the nuclear power plant program in Ontario, Canada, where Bruce Power is the largest nuclear power plant operator in North America. Bruce Power is the largest operator of nuclear power plants in North America, and became an early adopter in the field because of its deep understanding of the safety and efficiency of maintaining nuclear facilities, where laser cleaning technology has proven to be a safer and more efficient method of maintenance.
The purchase of LPC's Clean Tech 500-CTHD laser cleaning equipment will be used during Bruce Power's Vacuum Building Outage (VBO) program, which began in April of this year. The program temporarily decommissioned four of Bruce B's nuclear units for refurbishment to ensure that the utility and its partners can safely and successfully perform required maintenance and inspection work.
The vacuum building is unique to Bruce Power's nuclear power plants and provides an additional protective barrier against the release of radioactive material into the environment. All four operating units must be shut down approximately every ten years for vacuum building inspections and maintenance.
Bruce Power believes that the industry should now shift from traditional sandblasting methods to laser cleaning methods. Laser cleaning utilizes the characteristics of high energy, high density, controllable beam direction, and strong convergence ability of the laser to decontaminate contaminants by destroying the bonding between the contaminant and the substrate or by direct vaporization of the contaminant, reducing the bonding strength of the contaminant and the substrate, and thus achieving the cleaning of the surface of the workpiece. The effect of cleaning the surface of the workpiece can be achieved.
LPC's Clean Tech laser cleaning equipment allows for selective layer stripping without damage to the substrate or underlying material and without the need for chemicals or additives, minimizing secondary waste and reducing operator health risks.
And just on May 21, LPC announced the launch of a new generation of upgraded CleanTech laser cleaning equipment. The updated CleanTech series features mobile connectivity for remote monitoring and control, a new compact form factor for the scanning head, and intelligent overheat protection for increased safety. It is easy to see that at this stage LPC is ready to enter different market segments with its new generation of technology.
Turning our attention to the domestic, on the laser cleaning market, in recent years in the context of the era of the national dual-carbon strategy, laser cleaning in the field of high-end manufacturing, such as lithium batteries, aircraft blades, precision instruments, steel rails, ships and other areas of laser cleaning application rate in the continuous improvement.
According to relevant data, China's laser cleaning market size of more than 5.8 billion yuan in 2022. It is expected that the market size of more than 7.6 billion yuan in 2023, with an annual growth rate of more than 30%.
Under the leadership of a number of well-known domestic brands, China's laser cleaning market is continuing to soar. Such as Ruike laser, Chuangxin laser, strong far laser, water drop laser, Xiangming laser and other domestic enterprises have a wealth of experience in the field of laser cleaning and strong R & D strength.
At present, China's laser cleaning equipment in the nuclear industry applications are mainly reflected in the nuclear power plant reactor pipe cleaning. This kind of laser cleaning system usually use optical fiber will be introduced into the high-power laser beam inside the reactor, direct removal of radioactive dust and other pollutants. The cleaned down material is easy to clean up and, because it is operated at a distance, ensures the safety of the staff.
However, it should be noted that although China's laser cleaning equipment in the nuclear industry has achieved some results, but compared with the international advanced level there is still a gap.
However, in 2021, China's national standard "Green Manufacturing Laser Surface Cleaning Technical Specification" project was launched, also marking the domestic laser cleaning is gradually moving towards standardization and standardization.
In the future, we still need to make continuous efforts in the research and development, application and industrialization of laser cleaning technology, in order to promote the wide application of this technology in more fields.
