US EPA

9104074 

Journal Article 

Finishers' think tank 

Rudy, SF 

2009 

0 

Plating & Surface Finishing
ISSN: 0360-3164 

96 

8 

English 

Chlorinated solvents have been popular as quick, effective and efficient means of cleaning parts as a first critical step in many metal finishing processes. Specific applications include cleaning and degreasing, printed circuit boards, carbon removal, intricate and sophisticated parts cleaning, and as drying agents. Some of the most popular solvents include trichloroethylene, 1,1,1,-trichloroethane, perchloroethylene and methylene chloride. Two classes of these compounds have been identified for cleaning parts, including chlorinated fluorocarbons (CFC) and chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHC). CHCs in demanding applications included dry cleaning of clothing, separation of materials and solvency to prepare various consumer and commercial products, hard surface and precision cleaning and in food preparation. Many solvent cleaning operations employing CHCs have switched to alternate, more stable agents, such as n-propyl bromide and other specialty solvents that are non-flammable, exhibit low odors and toxicity.