At Human Active Technology (HAT Collective), the focus has always been on creating healthier, more active workplaces. Their height-adjustable desk solutions help office workers move more and feel better during the day. But for HAT Collective, a good work environment doesn’t stop at the office. It also extends to the production floor in Rudkøbing, Denmark, where Human Active Technology ApS produces the steel bases for its range of height-adjustable desks. Before powder coating, each part goes through a 9,000-litre pretreatment bath to ensure a perfectly clean surface – because if it’s not clean, the paint won’t stick.

The old phosphating product had been running troublefree for nearly 20 years but caused strong odours in the factory. Every morning the 9,000-litre bath had to be heated up to 48°C. The warm, steamy air and odour made working conditions uncomfortable. During maintenance, even small spills of the highly acidic system cleaner used to remove the iron phosphate product could damage the operators’ footwear. All clear signs that time had come for a new solution.

Following our Pure Performance concept, our Technical Advisor and Tech-Lab in Kolding worked closely to identify the right chemistry before the conversion. Tests were made to ensure the selected product would deliver the required cleaning performance and bath stability, before it even touched the customer’s process. Through a TCO calculation we demonstrated the estimated overall savings through reduced energy, wastewater, and water usage.

As painter Martin Richardt says: “Before we used a highly acidic product for maintenance and we had to work in the strong smell and use all kinds of PPV – and now we use, well basically, just a soap.”

Human Active Technology replaced their long-running phosphating process with a low-temperature, water-based degreaser operating efficiently at 36°C; down from the previous 48°C. It was also possible to lower the temperature in the drying oven from 155°C down to 135°C, as the clean surface demand less energy for the same result.

The new chemistry delivers strong cleaning performance while consuming far less energy. The result is a muchimproved indoor environment, extended bath lifetime, and a process that’s both easier and safer to handle. Previously, changing the bath once a year required three operators spending eight hours of hard work to remove phosphate deposits. With the DST-CHEMICALS solution, the bath has now been running for over 1.5 years without problems, and cleaning will be significantly easier when the time comes as the new cleaner also keeps the chambers clean on the go.

Daily water refills have also dropped dramatically – from 3.5 m³ to just 0.5 m³, cutting down both water use and energy demand for extra heating.

Production Manager Søren Rasmussen sums it up: “We’ve achieved a much better indoor environment, lower energy use, and strong cleaning results. The cooperation with DST-CHEMICALS has been great all the way through, and thanks to their thorough after-sales service we keep the bath in excellent condition.”

He adds: “DST-CHEMICALS’ products are more expensive to buy, but when I look at the total economy, they’re cheaper. The products last longer, are far more environmentally friendly, and bring big savings on energy and water. Add to that, the excellent service.”