Publications
Cleaning and materials compatibility test results for elimination of flammable solvents in wipe applications
In recent years, efforts have been made within the nuclear weapons complex (National Nuclear Security Administration) of the Department of Energy (DOE) to replace Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulated solvents (i.e., flammable, toxic, corrosive, and reactive) and ozone-depleting chemicals (ODC) with more benign alternatives. Within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) sectors, these solvents are used for cleaning hardware during routine maintenance operations. A primary goal of this study is to replace flammable solvents used in wiping applications. Two cleaners, including a hydrofluoroether (HFE) and an azeotrope of the HFE and isopropyl alcohol (IPA), have been studied as potential replacements for flammable solvents. Cleaning efficacy, short-term and long-term materials compatibility, corrosion, drying times, flammability, environment, safety and health (ES&H) and accelerated aging issues were among the experiments used to screen candidate solvents by the interagency team performing this work. This report presents cleaning efficacy results as determined by the contact angle Goniometer as well as materials compatibility results of various metal alloys and polymers. The results indicate that IPA (baseline cleaner) and the HFE/IPA azeotrope are roughly equivalent in their ability to remove fluorinated grease, silicone grease, and a simulated finger print contaminant from various metal alloys. All of the ASTM sandwich and immersion corrosion tests with IPA, HFE or the HFE/IPA azeotrope on metal alloys showed no signs of corrosion. Furthermore, no deleterious effects were noted for polymeric materials immersed in IPA, HFE, or the HFE/IPA azeotrope.