Nevertheless, increasingly rigorous environmental directives
and market competition have prompted the search for alternative
cleaning techniques with the same performance as solvent-based
approaches but with a lower environmental impact and, above all,
greater operational safety. A bubbling fluidized bed of glass beads
can be used for selective removal of surface contaminants and concurrent
cleaning of the exposed surfaces without the use of solvents and without damaging or altering the surface (Fig. 20). Furthermore,the process yields a dry part after processing, without any additional steps.