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Trial Number 4

Trial Purpose:

To evaluate two products on supplied parts using ultrasonic cleaning

Date Run:

03/05/2008

Experiment Procedure:

The top two products, Shopmaster RC and SC Actisolv, from the previous trials were heated to 130 F in a 40 kHz Branson 2510 ultrasonic unit and degassed for 5 minutes. One supplied dirty part coated with the Stan Chem Inc Red Stop Off (78-93-3, 108-88-3) was immersed in each solution and cleaned at 10-minute intervals until completely cleaned. Observations were made and estimated removal was recorded at each interval. Once clean, parts were rinsed in tap water for 15 seconds at 120 F and dried using compressed at room temperature for 30 seconds.

Trial Results:

Both products showed signs of removing the lacquer from the parts after 10 minutes of cleaning with Shopmaster RC having more success than the SC Actisolv. After 20 minutes, the SC Actisolv completely removed the lacquer but the Shopmaster RC had a small area of lacquer remaining in the outer thread area. The remaining lacquer was removed within 3 more minutes. The SC Actisolv was easier to rinse from the cleaned part than the Shopmaster RC was. The table below lists the observations made for each time interval for the two products.

Ultrasonic Cleaning
Cleaner   10 min 20 min 23 min
Shopmaster RC Estimated % clean 85 99 100
  Observations outer ridges nearly clean one small spot in threads none on outside
    little on inside none on inside  
SC Actisolv Estimated % clean 80 100  
  Observations outer ridges nearly clean none on outside  
    some on inside none on inside  

Success Rating:

Results suggest a scale-up feasible match for cleaning chemistry and equipment. Pilot plant study with actual parts recommended.

Conclusion:

Both products were effective in removing the lacquer in about 20 minutes of ultrasonic cleaning. Cleaned parts will be returned for client inspection. The next experiment will evaluate the same two products using immersion cleaning only at room temperature.

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