Solvent degreasing removes contaminants from materials, allowing for further processing. It can be done by spraying, brushing, or dipping, and machines like cold cleaners, conveyor belt degreasers, and open-top steam units are used. Solvents are organic compounds and can be applied to metal and plastic items. Advantages include fewer emissions and minimal venting, but disadvantages include fire hazards, toxic emissions, and disposal difficulties.
Solvent degreasing is the process of applying organic solvents to a material or part to remove contaminants from the material. By eliminating any contaminants, the material can be further processed by dyeing, varnishing or electroplating. The three most common ways to do solvent degreasing are by spraying, brushing, and dipping, depending on the amount of solvent needed to degrease the item. Different degreasing machines are used to apply solvents and are known as cold cleaners, conveyor belt degreasers, and open-top steam units. The benefits of using solvents for degreasing include lower resulting emissions and minimal need for venting; on the other hand, solvents can be a fire hazard, even minimal emissions are still toxic, and solvents can be difficult to dispose of.
When an item such as a tool is processed, it will collect machining fluid and other substances considered contaminants. These fluids prevent the item from being further processed, as the contaminants would interfere with processes such as electroplating or painting. To clean the item, companies use solvent degreasing, where a solvent degreasing agent is applied directly to the item to remove all contaminants.
Solvent degreasers are all organic compounds, meaning they have carbon and are chlorine, petroleum or alcohol based. It is used on many types of metal and plastic items because solvents do not affect metal and plastic. The solvent is liquid based, so it can easily flood or cover the entire part, meaning each section will be degreased and cleaned.
When applying a solvent, the three most common application methods are brushing, spraying and dipping. Brushing and spraying are similar in that the solvent is brushed or sprayed onto the part and a relatively small amount of solvent-based degreasing fluid is actually used. Dipping uses a large pool of solvent and the object is dumped into the pool. Pickling is similar to immersion, except that the pickled parts are left for an extended period of time to remove deep-seated contaminants.
There are several machines used to perform solvent degreasing. Cold Cleaners apply solvent cold and are loaded by batch. Open steam cleaners are also batch loaded, but clean by heating the solvent and using a solvent vapor. Conveyed units can use both cold and steam solvents, but are continuously charged.
The advantages of using solvent degreasing over other degreasing methods are that there are fewer emissions and the venting required is minimal, so small suits can be easily installed. Disadvantages include the status of petroleum-based solvents as a fire hazard and the fact that the emissions, while minimal, are still toxic and dangerous. There are also many regulations around the use of solvents and disposal can be difficult.
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