Trial Purpose:
To evaluate the effectiveness of five drop-in solvents at removing lubricant from aluminum alloys.
Date Run:
07/12/2017Experiment Procedure:
Preweighed aluminum coupons were tested for each cleaner. Coupons were soiled with Oak 7a lubricant (CAS: 64742-53-6; 68909-65-9) using a swab to cover the bottom third of the substrate and dirty weights were recorded. Coupons were immersed, three at a time, in a beaker with 200ml of the chosen cleaner at room temperature (68 F) for five minutes. Visual observations were taken during this time, and final weights were recorded after cleaning. This process was repeated for each cleaner.
Trial Results:
| Cleaner | Initial wt. | Final wt. | % Removed | Average % Removed |
| Fluosolv CX | ||||
| 0.0524 | 0.0062 | 88.17 | 89.35 | |
| 0.1075 | 0.0037 | 96.56 | ||
| 0.1427 | 0.0238 | 83.32 | ||
| Fluosolv NC | ||||
| 0.0331 | -0.0002 | 100.6 | 101.26 | |
| 0.0707 | -0.0012 | 101.7 | ||
| 0.0881 | -0.0013 | 101.48 | ||
| Solstice PF | ||||
| 0.0821 | 0.0007 | 99.15 | 99.87 | |
| 0.0946 | 0 | 100 | ||
| 0.0882 | -0.0004 | 100.45 | ||
| Solstice PF-2A | ||||
| 0.0579 | 0.0003 | 99.48 | 100.1 | |
| 0.0987 | -0.0008 | 100.81 | ||
| 0.0649 | 0 | 100 | ||
| Vertrel Sion | ||||
| 0.1144 | 0.0031 | 97.29 | 98.36 | |
| 0.0743 | 0.0023 | 96.9 | ||
| 0.0911 | -0.0008 | 100.88 |
Four out of the five drop-in solvents visually performed the same and were effective at removing Oak 7a. No substrate damage was observed on coupons with a percentage higher than 100%. The high removal percentage was potentially due to the cleanliness of coupons before testing. Fluosolv CX had some residue still on the coupons after five minutes.
Success Rating:
Preliminary compatibility tests on substrate coupons encouraging for at least one cleaning chemistry. More in-depth laboratory testing necessary.Conclusion:
All five drop-in solvents were effective at removing Oak 7a from aluminum. Next step would be to repeat the procedure for EDM 30 lubricant.
