Surface World July 2019 Surface World July 2019 | Page 177

BANNER CHEMICALS
Component degreasing
and surface cleaning
Improved understanding means
more control, technological
choice, greater safety, improved
performance, lower costs.
A review of regulatory impact
and technology development
within the UK solvent degreasing
and surface cleaning industry.
The world of component degreasing and surface
cleaning has been in turmoil for the last twenty years
or more as the complexity of environmental science
has strived to establish and prove the true impact
that the chemicals we use have on the world we live
in. Whether it be the air we breathe, the climate we
endure or the waters and ground that produces our
food, it has all been under a great challenge and
how we treat them all has been under even greater
scrutiny.
The great success of this challenge is that now we
all live and work in a better place and experience
healthier conditions. There is a greater knowledge
and understanding of how the chemicals that we
use impact on our everyday life and the hazards
and risks that they present.
The strong regulatory pressure that has endured
as a result of the growing awareness and scientific
development has forced both operators and
suppliers alike to invest in a greater understanding
of their own position and develop improvements in
technology and working practices. As a result, today
the degreasing and surface cleaning industry has
clarity, a better control of its activities and overall it
has a choice of technological options that can be
selected to best suit the specific conditions and
requirements of individual applications.
Those of us with a longer history in the industry will
recall the days of cleaning really meaning vapour
degreasing using a chlorinated solvent, typically
trichloro or perchloro ethylene, or maybe for
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temperature sensitive applications methylene
chloride or a milder fluorinated solvent. Today some
of those chemicals prevail albeit under far more
stringent control criteria.
The specific hazards and risks of trichloroethylene,
perchloroethylene and methylene chloride are well
understood and appropriate EU regulation has been
enforced to ensure maximum safety in their use.
An interesting fact is that trichloroethylene continues
to be a mainstay benchmark of degreasing
performance especially in the aerospace industry.
However, the future use of these solvents is not so
straight forward.
In the case of trichloroethylene, classified as a
high-risk carcinogen, under EU regulations it is
required that it is replaced with a safer alternative
in the shortest possible time, however it is not
actually banned. EU regulations require that all
trichloroethylene operations, when technically
justified, be independently REACH registered and
they require subsequent authorisation to permit use.
The registration process is complex and costly hence
it is expected that this is unlikely to happen in many
cases. Permitted operations must be carried out
using REACH compliant equipment.
Interestingly, perchloroethylene is totally acceptable
as a current, appropriate, safe alternative to
trichloroethylene. Again, perchloroethylene has
been heavily researched and the product is well
understood. Perchloroethylene can be used safely
in REACH compliant equipment including a closed
loop solvent transfer facility, when the consumption
is above the regulatory exemption level.
Methylene chloride has always been a specific
choice for applications where the stronger solvency
power is required and the component or substrate
is temperature sensitive. Methylene chloride must
also be used in appropriate REACH compliant
equipment when the consumption is above the
regulatory exemption level.
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