Objective:

Vehicle equipment, aircraft, and ship maintenance activities historically have used organic solvents to remove dirt, grease, soot and burned-on carbon from various parts. These petroleum-based solvents have a volatile organic compound (VOC) content of approximately 800 grams per liter (g/L). Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs) in California have recently imposed a limitation for VOC content in solvent immersion tanks to 50 g/L or less. If this limit is not met, sophisticated air pollution control systems will be required. In an effort to meet local environmental regulations, the Department of Defense (DoD) has increasingly come to rely on aqueous-alkaline cleaners for industrial cleaning operations. These cleaners provide substantial environmental benefits, but they can cause corrosion, flash rusting, and hydrogen embrittlement of some metal surfaces. Due to environmental concerns of petroleum-based solvents and performance concerns of aqueous-alkaline cleaners, it is desirable to test and implement a new class of organic solvents that can be used on critical components. This new class of organic solvents must meet DoD material compatibility and performance criteria, not contribute to emission of VOCs, and contain no hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).

Technology Description:

Two leading-edge companies have been selected to demonstrate/validate their soy-based solvent for DoD depot maintenance needs. The solvents include Ag Environmental Products' SOYGOLD® 1000 (neat methyl soyate) and Vertec BioSolvents' VertecBio™ Gold Parts Cleaner (methyl soyate/ethyl lactate). These solvents first will be evaluated in the laboratory following the Army's Alternative Cleaner Evaluation Program. This program has been developed with the intent to provide material compatibility, solvent properties, toxicity, and environmental data that allow decision makers to evaluate alternative cleaners for application on DoD maintenance, cleaning, and repair activities. Following the laboratory analysis, the solvents will be evaluated for performance and environmental compliance on DoD aeronautical antifriction bearing cleaning. The bearing cleaning process operators and materials engineers will determine the ability of the solvents to clean their parts as well as document the time it takes for the parts to be cleaned and dried.

Expected Benefits:

Soy methyl esters and other bio-based solvents will enable the DoD to be in compliance with the new limitations on VOCs that will be promulgated in some APCDs and to abet requirements to maintain records for HAP-containing solvents. Significant savings will be achieved with the elimination of air pollution control systems. Additionally, the bio-based solvents will reduce the cost of solvent procurement and hazardous waste disposal. Data obtained during the laboratory analysis and demonstrations also can be applied to other DoD critical cleaning processes.
(Anticipated Project Completion - 2005)

Contact:

Mr. Robert Bonner
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center 1100 23rd Avenue, Code 421 Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4340 Telephone: (805) 982-5317 Fax: (805) 982-4832 E-mail: robert.bonner@navy.mil