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ABOUT SONIC DRY CLEAN - OUR HISTORY
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Sonic's Mission
Sonic Dry Clean saw the need for an automated, computerized controlled air filter cleaning system that would recycle quality air filters, restoring them to the same or better filtering status as brand new, allowing the end user to reuse their air filters, reduce and control their hazardous waste, while cutting their company’s cost. This System would have to merit the approval of Caterpillar and Komatsu to meet the needs of the Mining Industry and the commercial trucking industry. Our goal was to develop a system that could provide repeatability in cleaning quality, while surpassing any and all testing required of its air filters. We demanded a system that would supply a quality recycled air filter that would meet or exceed the industry’s standards and in doing so we raised the bar for quality in air filter cleaning systems that place us as the World Leader in Air Filter Cleaning Technology. In 1990 Sonic Dry Clean, Inc., developed their first edition of the SDC-1 preempting the need for unreliable wet washing. Sonic Dry Clean has improved and adapted their systems to meet their customer’s needs from the Mining Industry to Commercial Trucking, Transportation, and Manufacturing. The simple principle of providing quality technology that is sustainable for the user, giving them with a high quality end product and significant cost savings, while effortlessly allowing them and their companies to protect the environment continues to be our focus at Sonic Dry Clean. We at Sonic Dry Clean continue to strive to improve our systems to provide the most dependable, high quality recycled air filters for your equipment. It is our goal is to continue to be the system the others want to copy. Emulation is the greatest form of praise.
Sonic Dry Clean the world leader in air filter dry cleaning technology, the name you can depend on.
John Hockin, CEO
Sonic Dry Clean
The Sonic Commitment
Sonic Dry Clean was founded in 1990 to address the need for a new technology in air filter cleaning. Three years later, this defined commitment led to a singular achievement. The Sonic Dry Clean System.
The Sonic Dry Clean System has changed the way smart companies deal with their air filters. Once commonly hauled off to dumps where they consumed precious landfill space, or wet washed where the integrity of the filter is compromised, filters can now be recycled and reused with greater efficiency and safety than ever before!
Today, Sonic Dry Clean has operations throughout the United States and around the world. Its system has received top marks in independent scientific studies conducted by respected institutions, and businesses have realized substantial savings by using Sonic's product.
As we work to revive the economy and protect our natural resources, the Sonic Dry Clean System serves a vital need and resource.
As Sonic Dry Clean continued to develop the process, SDC realized what a great environmental dimension there was to Sonic Dry Cleaning ... we've had a tremendous positive impact on our nation's and worlds landfill crisis. We estimate that we have saved in excess of 50 tons of air filters so far in San Diego County alone. Figured in terms of cubic feet, it amounts to several city blocks! When Sonic Dry Clean becomes the only way of life for air filters everywhere, it's truly going to be a great day for the environment -- both in the air and under the ground!"
John Hockin, Chief Executive Officer
Sonic Dry Clean
Sonic Dry Clean: Health Care for the Economy and the Environment
More than ever, Sonic Dry Clean is being called upon to deliver a better product that not only sales companies money, increases profits, serves consumer needs, but helps to preserve the environment as well.
Sonic Dry Clean is a valued partner in any companies maintenance program. The SDC System enables businesses to safely and effectively clean thus recycle their dirty air filters at a significantly reduced cost. The SDC System is a proven, tested process that also saves landfill space, and is environmentally superior to all other cleaning options. The SDC System demonstrates how environmental technology can improve the environment and the economy at the same time!
Supporting an Historic Effort
In California, Sonic Dry Clean is also consistent with the state's new waste management approach. In 1989, the Integrated Waste Management Act was put into law, establishing a far-reaching plan to divert waste from landfills. The guiding credo is known as "reduce, reuse and recycle" -- a battle cry to make our world a cleaner, safer, more enjoyable place for our children. The three R's are central to the effort, for public perceptions and practices play a critical role in maximizing waste prevention and diversion.
Sonic Dry Clean fits right in with this goal. It supports reduce by scaling back the need to manufacture products which generate waste. It supports reuse by offering a product which performs better the second, third and fourth time around than the brand new product. And it supports recycle by stimulating and meeting a market demand for a recycled product. The SDC System has arrived just as the public, industry and government are becoming more aware of the environmental consequences of excessive waste generation and the avoidable costs associated with those practices.
The SDC System developed by Sonic Dry Clean helps to preserve landfill space by diverting used air filters from the dumps and putting them back in the dump trucks -- or any other application. And, at a time when saving money and our environment work hand in hand.
Sonic is Good Science
Before the Sonic Dry Clean System stood the test in the field, it passed the test at the laboratory. In fact, is was proven that a Sonic Dry Cleaned air filter was more efficient than a bran new air filter!
In a scientific test conducted by California Environmental Engineering, a new air filter, a rebuilt air filter, a wet-washed air filter, and an air filter cleaned by the Sonic Dry Clean process, were compared to determine which filter did the best job of reducing particulate pollution.
The results were simply amazing. The filter cleaned by Sonic Dry Clean was nearly three times more effective in reducing particulate pollution than the wet washed filter; was much more effective than the rebuilt air filter; and was even more effective than the brand new filter. In fact, the brand new filter emitted 15,000 particles per cubic foot more than the air filler cleaned by Sonic.
The reason for this remarkable fact was mentioned earlier: dry cleaning does not remove the filter's precoating, which is the initial layer of contaminants that attaches to the filter and which is necessary for the filter to achieve its highest efficiency. This protective coating is not found on new filters. Thus, an air filter cleaned by Sonic Dry Clean is ready to begin its recycled life at virtual 100 percent efficiency. This means that Sonic Dry Clean is far and away the most effective method of cutting particulate pollution, and staving off fines from regulatory agencies and reducing overhead for its users. And all of this can be achieved at a cheaper price than the cost of a new filter.
A Revolutionary Process
How does Sonic Dry Clean work? First, its specially designed cleaning machine uses computerized sequences of vibration to sonically loosen heavily encrusted particulates. In this part of the process, the air filter is rotated counterclockwise and vibration is created by manipulating air flow. This air vibration vacuums the particulates out of the air filter. The air flow required can easily be provided by a customer's own compressed air source.
The entire process is designed to be done by a single operator, and the average cleaning time for an air filter is less than five minutes.
And so, the Sonic user gets an air filter that is more efficient and in addition to effective in reducing pollution, is less expensive than buying a new one, all in less than five minutes. Now that's efficiency!
No wonder the report issued by California Environmental Engineering said that, "It is evident that [the Sonic Dry Clean] process will extend the life of air filters while at the same time lower maintenance costs."
Scientists Support the Sonic System California Environmental Engineering is not alone in its scientific approval of tile Sonic Dry Clean System. In 1993, the nationally known, highly respected Southwest Research Institute conducted efficiency and dust capacity tests on one new and three dry cleaned air filter elements from Sonic Dry Clean.
The testing was conducted in accordance with the current Air Cleaner Test Code, using the most reliable housing and radial seal testing equipment. Incredibly, the three dry cleaned filters all achieved higher initial and cumulative efficiency levels than the new filter.
The Challenge
During this century, an estimated one billion diesel engines have been manufactured, and the majority are still on the road. These engines fuel the flow of commerce, for they are the common denominator in trains, buses, trucks, generators, compressors, military vehicles, mining equipment, tractors, farming machinery and heavy-duty equipment, and co-generation plants, to name a few.
One of the most critical components that is common to all these applications is the need for an air filter to protect the engine from dirt and debris. When a filter becomes saturated with dirt it must be removed, and until recently, the only options available for replacing the dirty filter were purchasing a new air filter or wet washing the old one. The downside with buying new air filters is the expense involved. For a sizeable fleet operation, replacing air filters becomes a significant and irritating cost, especially in our current stagnant economy.
Wet washing presents another set of problems. First of all, the manufacturers of air filters don't recommend the process, which damages the filter, and could damage the engine as well. Further, wet washing is not the most effective process for cleaning your air filter and poses a great risk then reward! Research of the Donaldson Company in Minneapolis concludes that 30 percent of an air filter's service life can be lost each time it's washed. This, along with the damaging effects of the washing process, explains why filter manufacturers do not warranty their filters after they have been wet washed.
The challenge was presented: How to provide a cost-effective, yet efficient option for recycling the air filter, while serving our renewed commitment to the environment and to sensible solid waste management practices.
Sonic Dry Clean met the challenge head on. Three years of painstaking research, design and testing resulted in a revolutionary cleaning process and system that cleans air filters automatically by using computer controlled sequences of compressed air, vibration and vacuum: A Better Way Now with over 600 SDC System in use worldwide, SDC literally leaves the competition in the dust!
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