Vehicle Wash Tunnel
An installation in which the vehicle moves through successive stations for prewash, washing with brushes or pressurised water, rinsing and drying.
In a wash tunnel the car moves on a conveyor, or the structure moves over the car in rollover washes, and passes through arches that apply water and products in a fixed order. The usual sequence is a prewash that softens the soil, a wash with detergent, often in the form of foam, the mechanical action of brushes or pressure jets, a rinse and, at the end, a rinse product that helps the water run off before air drying.
The products are dosed automatically at each arch. The choice depends on the type of soil, the water hardness and the bodywork finish; highly alkaline or acid and concentrated products can damage plastics, rubbers or coatings if not rinsed well. The wastewater carries soil, oils and detergent residues, so installations usually have settling and hydrocarbon separation before discharge, according to the local authorisation.
Instaquim products indicated for automatic tunnels, according to their technical data sheet:
- Carfoam (pH 8.5; 3-8 g/l): washing of bodywork in automatic tunnels with high foam formation.
- Procar (pH 7.5; 5-10 g/l): washing of bodywork in automatic tunnels.
- Ceracar (pH 3.5; 5-8 g/l in the final rinse): rinsing and shining of bodywork in automatic tunnels.
- Ceracar + (pH 4; 3-5 g/l in the final rinse): rinsing and shining of bodywork in automatic tunnels.