TRICHLOROETHYLENE REPLACEMENT

A. Les,

Ah.. that is the question, isn't it. Unfortunately no-one can give you a definitive answer.

First of all, can you give a little more detail as to the use you want the degreaser for (and I don't mean to degrease!).

Currently available on the market for vapour degreasing without chlorine you are very limited (n-propyl bromide is one possible route, although still some questions on health hazards with that one. HFE is another, if somewhat expensive route and no-one seems to have done any health and safety work with these for long term exposure). Most of industry is heading down the aqueous degreasing route, but this will not suit everybody. There are then the iso-paraffinic washes, but these can be a safety nightmare (requires anti-static working).

Do you really have to get rid of chlorinated solvents? Would you be allowed to consider chlorinated solvents other than trichloroethylene? If so, you have the options of methylene chloride or perchloroethylene. Both have their benefits and drawbacks.

End of the day, it comes down to testing whether any of the options suit your needs, a case of "Suck it and see" as we say.

A. Brian,

Yes, there is a direct replacement for Trichloroethylene and it's called EnSolv. In Canada and the U.S. you can go to the Enviro Tech International, Inc. It is the closest drop in replacement for TCE there is.

Larry Clark

Thanks, Larry.

Les, EnSolv is one of the brand names of the n-propyl bromide that Brian mentioned.

Regards,