Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Chemical Engineering

Major Professor

Robert Counce

Committee Members

Marion Hansen, Paul Bienkowski

Abstract

The cleaning process phase in both the manufacturing and use of metal machinery is currently being closely reviewed. The standard practice in the past was to clean the contaminated part with one of the many chlorinated solvents that have been available for decades. Problems with these cleaning solvents, such as their ozone-destruction capabilities and serious health concerns, began to become apparent in the early 1980s. With the upcoming ban on the production of all ozone-depleting chemicals mandated by the Montreal Protocol, many industries are searching for environmentally acceptable cleaning agents to replace the banned chlorinated solvents. These new cleaning agents should remove the contaminant effectively and still be compatible with environmental and safety requirements. For the research described in this document, several manufacturers in Tennessee loaned metal parts from their production lines for use in this study. These parts were cleaned with different alternative cleaning agents over a range of operating conditions; the level of surface cleanliness obtained in these tests was determined and compared to that from the currently used technology. Surface cleanliness was determined using an electron-scanning for chemical analysis (ESCA) spectrometer. Effective cleaning agents were chosen by the Solvent Alternatives Guide (SAGE) computer program. The main focus of this research was to determine the specific operating parameters that have the greatest impacts on the cleaning of metal parts using several environmentally-acceptable alternatives. It was found during the course of this research that almost all of these alternative cleaning agents cleaned metal surfaces as effectively as the chlorinated solvents, with the aqueous alkaline cleaning agent being one of the best tested. Predictions on alternative cleaning agents from the SAGE program compared very favorably with experimental results. Additionally, the research determined that the temperature of the cleaning solution is the key process parameter in cleaning with alternative cleaning agents.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS