FREON (CFC-113) SOLVENT REPLACEMENT: A NEW PROCESS FOR PRECISION PARTS CLEANING

THE PROPOSED PHASE I EFFORT INCLUDES A SURVEY AND ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT AND EMERGING CLEANING PROCESSES FOR GYROSCOPE COMPONENTS AND SIMILAR PRECISION PARTS THAT CAN MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE, AND AN EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM ON A NEW PROCESS THAT EMPLOYS SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE TO DISSOLVE THE CONTAMINANT OILS AND A FLUOROCARBON/FLUOROETHER SURFACTANT TO REMOVE PARTICULATES NORMALLY ASSOCIATED WITH GYROSCOPE PARTS FROM THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS. CARBON DIOXIDE EXHIBITS OBVIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES OF SAFETY AND ACCEPTABILITY AND ITS ABILITY TO DISSOLVE EVERY OIL THAT IS ENUMERATED IN THE TOPIC DESCRIPTION PLACES IT IN THE FOREMOST POSITION OF THE EMERGING CFCAND VOC-FREE CLEANING PROCESSES. THE PROPOSAL PRESENTS DATA ON THE SOLUBILITY OF THE OILS IN SUPER-GYROSCOPE PARTS CLEANING TESTS. THE ABILITY OF THE FLUOROCARBON/FLUOROETHER SURFACTANT TO REMOVE BOTH LOW AND HIGH DENSITY SUBMICRON PARTICULATES FROM BERYLLIUM PARTS, SILICON WAFERS, AND POLYMER SURFACES IS DETAILED, AND THE RESULTS PRESENTED POINT OUT THAT THE PHASE I TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES CAN EASILY BE MET. BECAUSE QUESTIONS OF THE ECONOMICS OF MANY NEW PROCESS ARE IMPORTANT FOR ASSESSING ITS VIABILITY RELATIVE TO COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES, THE PHASE I PROGRAM INVOLVES THE ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMICS OF A CLEANING FACILITY THAT PROCESSES PARTS OF A TYPE AND PRODUCTION RATE STIPULATED BY THE U.S. AIR FORCE CONTRACT MONITOR. THE RESULTS OF THE ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT COUPLED WITH THE ACHIEVEMENT OF TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES WILL ALSO POINT OUT THE MERITS OF A PHASE II PROGRAM. THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF PHASE I AND PHASE II EFFORTS WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN ENVIRONMENTALLY ACCEPTALE CLEANING PROCESS TO REPLACE CFC-113 FOR APPLICATION TO PRECISION PARTS CLEANING. AN OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CLEANING TECHNOLOGIES ON PHASE I WILL ADD TO THE KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR ASSISTING BOTH INDUSTRIAL AND GOVERNMENT CONCERNS IN SELECTING TECHNICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY VIABLE CFC REPLACEMENTS.