Trial Purpose:
To evaluate the effectiveness of SB-27 (t-Butyl Acetate 70% (CAS No: 540-88-5) + Benzyl Alcohol 30% (CAS No: 100-51-6)) and SB-31 (Benzyl Alcohol 63% (CAS No: 100-51-6) + Ethyl Lactate 37% (CAS No: 97-64-3)) in removing Oak 529 oil from stainless steel, aluminum, and steel coupons as a potential replacement for TCE with an unheated ultrasonic cleaning method.
Date Run:
12/01/2023Experiment Procedure:
Nine brass coupons were used for each cleaner being tested, for a total of 18 coupons. The initial weights of each coupon were recorded. The bottom third of every coupon was soiled by applying the soil with a swab. The dirty weights of each coupon were then recorded. The coupons were then subjected to unheated ultrasonic in SB-27 and SB-31 for 15 minutes. After the coupons were cleaned, they were left to air dry overnight. The next morning, the clean weights of each coupon were taken.
Trial Results:
| Cleaner | Substrate | Initial content weight | Final content weight | Percent content removed | Average percent removed |
| SB-27 | Stainless Steel | 0.0262 | -0.0067 | 125.57 | 106.35 |
| -0.0019 | 113.87 | ||||
| 0.0265 | 0.0054 | 79.62 | |||
| Aluminum | 0.0346 | 0.0004 | 98.84 | 93.76 | |
| 0.0232 | -0.0074 | 131.90 | |||
| 0.019 | 0.0094 | 50.53 | |||
| Steel | 0.0106 | 0.0016 | 84.91 | 81.07 | |
| 0.0134 | 0.0054 | 59.70 | |||
| 0.0071 | 0.0001 | 98.59 | |||
| SB-31 | Stainless Steel | 0.0176 | -0.0009 | 105.11 | 89.50 |
| 0.0226 | 0.0006 | 97.35 | |||
| 0.0212 | 0.0072 | 66.04 | |||
| Aluminum | 0.0670 | 0.0451 | 32.69 | -9.28 | |
| 0.0389 | 0.0063 | 83.80 | |||
| 0.0088 | 0.0215 | -144.32 | |||
| Steel | 0.0248 | 0.0368 | -48.39 | -41.08 | |
| 0.0418 | 0.0289 | 30.86 | |||
| 0.0298 | 0.0613 | -105.70 |
Success Rating:
Preliminary compatibility tests on substrate coupons encouraging for at least one cleaning chemistry. More in-depth laboratory testing necessary.Conclusion:
There was a large amount of variation in how the cleaners and substrates interacted. SB-27 seemed to clean really well, while the coupons cleaned with SB-31 never dried overnight. Further testing would be needed to examine if these cleaners can be a suitable replacement for TCE.
