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Trial Number 0

Trial Purpose:

To compare current oil vendor cleaner to other aqueous cleaner.

Date Run:

07/27/1998

Experiment Procedure:

Preweighed turbine engine sections were immersed into the fluorescent oil. The parts were weighed again to determine the amount of contaminant which remained on the parts. Observations were made under black light conditions to determine a baseline level of fluorescence. The two supplied cleaners were made to the specified concentrations in 1500 mL beakers. The beakers were placed into a 40 kHz Crest ultrasonic unit and heated to 150 F. One part was placed into each beaker and cleaned for three minutes with the ultrasonic unit working. Parts were removed and rinsed with tap water at 120 F for 20 seconds and allowed to air dry. The cleaning and rinsing cycles were repeated using a second part in each cleaner. Final weights and black light observations were made.

SUBSTRATE MATERIAL: Nickel Alloy-Inconel
CONTAMINANTS: Oil--Zyglo Penetrant ZL-27A

Trial Results:

The Magnaflux product removed more of the contaminant from the turbine parts. It was noted that the position of the parts in the beakers would increase the contaminant removal efficiency. Table 1 lists the gravimetric calculations made for each cleaner.

Table 1. Cleaning Efficiency

Cleaner Part ID Initial Weight Dirty Weight Clean Weight Percent Removal
ZR-10B CL 22 313.4 315.2 313.4 100
ZR-10B CL 29 321.4 324.3 321.6 93.1
Blue Gold CL 265 328.5 332 328.9 88.6
Blue Gold CL 2 314.8 317.3 315.3 80

Upon inspection under black light the location of the remaining contaminant was made. Most oil started to leak out of the holes that were not allowed to drain during the cleaning in the ultrasonic tank.  If the parts had been rotated during the cleaning, more oil may have been removed.  This will be incorporated into the next experiment.

Success Rating:

A follow up test, usually based on company input.

Conclusion:

The Magnaflux product initially appears to remove more of the fluorescent oil than the Modern Chemical product. The addition of the rotation to the parts may increase the efficiency of the cleaning, but it should improve the cleaning for both chemistries.
During the next experiment other aqueous cleaners will be tested and compared to the results of the Maganflux product. Once a possible cleaner has been found, this new cleaner or cleaners will be used in another experiment using the EDM oil as the contaminant. The results of the EDM oil contaminant will be compared to the Modern Chemical product.

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