Kolene Corporation is a global leader in the cleaning and conditioning of metal surfaces for a wide variety of industries. Since its founding in 1939, Kolene has provided its customers with custom-designed and engineered equipment, specialty chemical formulations, and complete treatment processes. Today Kolene® products are used worldwide in a wide range of applications, including casting cleaning, alloy descaling, coatings removal, engine rebuild, and other demanding industrial and military applications.
One of Kolene’s earliest clients was the U.S. Navy, who approached Kolene during World War II with a challenge to prepare cast iron bearing shells so that lead could replace tin, which was unavailable during the Far East Campaign of the war. The breakthrough answer from Kolene was a series of molten salts which quickly became the standard for the Navy and its subcontractors. This process is still widely specified for cleaning iron castings.
To this day, Kolene remains active in defense applications, with systems installed at the U.S. Army Depots throughout the country that cleans diesel engine components during overhaul and reset. The Kolene® process produces clean parts in minutes, compared to hours for the old technology it replaced. In addition to rapid component turnaround, the automated system is more economical to operate, produces more consistent results, and significantly reduces the volume of hazardous waste requiring treatment or disposal.
Today, the Kolene staff includes scientists, engineers, and production process experts responding to a global customer base. Their technological know-how spans across multiple industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense, foundry, stainless steel and general manufacturing, providing sole-source dependability, reproducibility, and performance. The longevity of Kolene’s customer base is a testament to not only the viability of Kolene processes, but also the tradition of providing ongoing support to customers who become long-term partners in the cleaning and treatment of metal surfaces.