Browse Client Types

Browse past lab clients by general industry sectors

Trial Number 0

Trial Purpose:

Find cleaning system to replace Mineral Spirits

Date Run:

05/17/1996

Experiment Procedure:

The purpose of this experiment is to find an aqueous cleaning system for Aircraft Parts Manufacturer that will replace their current Mineral Spirits usage. For this system to be successful it must accomplish four things:

1) Must be effective in removing lapping oils from parts.
2) Must be free rinsing and leave no residue.
3) Preferably be operated at a lower temperature (around 120 F).
4) Must be Multi-Metal safe.

For the first part of the trial, 7 different chemistries were tested against a sample of Hubbard-Hall Ram Charger and Chemstation GreenStuff. Chemistries were selected on the four cleaning chemistry goals listed above. The concentrations of each chemistry were at recommended usage concentration for heavy cleaning supplied by the vendors. All cleaning was performed in a 2-liter beaker with stir-bar agitation. Cleaning time was 10 minutes, and the cleaning temperature was 120 F (both the Ram Charger and Green Stuff II were cleaned at 150 F). After cleaning, each part was rinsed for 20 seconds in room temperature tap-water. The parts were then dried in a convection oven for one hour.
SUBSTRATE MATERIAL: 3"x 6" Aluminum Plates
CONTAMINANTS: Speedfam #210 Oil-Based Vehicle
CONTAMINATING PROCESS USED: Applied on with handheld polishing unit.

Trial Results:

Company Tradename    Concentration Results
Oakite Products Inc. Inproclean 1300 13% Good
Mirachem Corporation Mirachem 500 5% Poor
Brulin Corp. 815 GD 10% Excellent (see microcam photo)
Gemteck Corp. Safe Aircraft 5% Good, but some etching was noticed
General Chemical Corp. Aluminex 5761 10% Poor
Delta Omega Technologies  DOT 111/113 10% Poor
W.R. Grace Inc. Daraclean 282 15% Excellent  (see microcam photo)
Hubbard Hall Inc. Ram Charger 100% Poor (see microcam photo)
Chemstation Green Stuff II 10% Poor (see microcam photo)

The second part of the trial tested out the cleaning efficiency of the two best performers in part one (the Brulin 815GD and the Daraclean 282). The concentrations used for both chemistries were from 4-10% in increments of 2%. All other cleaning, rinsing and drying parameters were kept constant with part one. After cleaning the panels were inspected for soil removal and rinsing efficiency. For both the Brulin 815 GD and the Daraclean 282, cleaning efficiency appeared to drop considerably when the solutions reached six percent. A microcam picture was taken of the most heavily soiled area on the panels after cleaning.

Success Rating:

Results successful using TACT (time, agitation, concentration, and temperature, as well as rinsing and drying) and/or other cleaning chemistries examined.

Conclusion:

For removal of the #210 Oil Base Vehicle, it appears that both the Daraclean 282 and the Brulin would be appropriate. Both chemistries have their advantages: The Brulin 815GD has gained approval from several aircraft manufacturers including McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, Lockheed and Northrop for meeting quality specifications. From past trials at the Surface Cleaning Lab, the Daraclean 282 has always performed well in the areas of soil removal, multi-metal compatibility and rinsibility.
It appears to me that both of these chemistries could be successfully implemented. For successful rinsing to take place I believe that Aircraft Parts Manufacturer would need to employ a two-stage rinsing technique. The temperature of the rinse should be on the cool side (below 120) since hot rinsing can cause water staining if the rinse-water is of poor cleanliness. The Daraclean 282 can also be used in conjunction with the Daraguard 416 Rinse Aid which has worked excellent in the lab for increasing rinsing efficiency.

Save Report as a PDF