Solvon Meeting Military Inspection

Poly Systems USA, Inc. in Deer Park, NY has released an updated version of its Solvon FB cleaning solvent blends consisting of a high-purity, patented combination of n-propyl bromide and pentafluorobutane.

The product comes in three configurations: FB2 is very mild, with high surface wetting and medium evaporation rate; FB5 is mild, with high surface wetting and high evaporation rate; and FB7 is less mild, with highest surface wetting and lower evaporation rate

The company says the Solvon series is formulated to replace chlorofluorocarbon solvents such as CFC-113 and hydrochlorofluorocarbon solvents such as HCFC-141b and HCFC-225ca/cb.

CFC-113 is targeted because it is an unreactive chlorofluorocarbon that will stay in the air for a long time after it is released, presenting a problem with earth’s ozone. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been phasing out the use of some hydrochlorofluorocarbons, starting with a 35-percent reduction in 2004 and a reduction of 75 percent by 2010. It will be phased out entirely by 2030.

Scott Mondi, Poly Systems’ marketing manager, said the solvents are designed for cold cleaning and deposition applications. He says they can be used as a vehicle to deliver and deposit various dispersion mixtures, such as lubricants and coatings.

“Solvon has replaced several other aerosol products in the maintenance departments,” he says. “I believe that with the directive to reduce HAPs (hazardous air pollution), many manufacturers will be interested in what we offer.”

Solvon is applied as an aerosol, with sprayers, as pre-saturated wipes, with swabs and in cold immersion washes. It is targeted to remove light, medium and heavy-duty oils and greases, as well as waxes, polishing compounds, buffing compounds, release agents, particulates, hydraulic fluids and lubricants.

Poly Systems president Dov Shellef says that most customers are using Solvon on such precision parts as optical components, composites, printed circuit boards, electro-mechanical devices, electronic components, computers, connectors, relays, capacitors and flip-chip assemblies.

“The inherent values of these products are their environmental characteristics: non-flammable, non-hap, non-accumulating in the environment, insignificant global warming potential,” Shellef says. “Yet they clean as well as any of the banned cleaners. The substrates we see most often are metals such as aluminum, brass, copper steel, stainless steel, carbon-steel, nickel, silver and gold.”

Poly Systems has devised a guide to help customers understand which variety of the Solvon cleaning agent to use:

Solvon FB2 is the mildest solvent of the series, making it the best suited for applications with sensitive plastic and elastomers. Mondi says it is considered an excellent CFC-113 replacement, and suggested applications include those that require particulate or light-oil removal from metals or sensitive plastic surfaces. He says applications include plastic optical lens cleaning, movie film cleaning and fingerprint developer carriers.
Shellef says Solvon FB5 has good solvency and excellent wetting ability, and is the fastest surface evaporation in the FB series. He says the blend is considered an excellent HCFC-141b solvent alternative.
“Although it has a higher boiling point than HCFC-141b, it evaporates from the surface much faster,” says Shellef, who adds that suitable cleaning applications include removing particulate and oil from precision-machined parts and cleaning precision optical lenses. Coating applications include depositing uniform, solvent-soluble inks, adhesives, sealant and paints for many diverse applications, as well as depositing hydrocarbon, fluoropolymer or silicone lubricants for applications such as disk drives, medical tubing, needles and instruments.
Solvon FB7 is the most aggressive solvent of the series, Mondi says. It is suited for applications where great solvency is needed and more wetting is desired. He says that heavy contaminants such as drawing oils, waxes, blocking compounds, inks, printing toners, solder flux residues as well as a variety of organic soils are easily dissolved.

At the Marine Corps. logistics base in Albany, Ga.,hazmat manager Guenter Schwarz has been using the Solvon brand for three years and likes the results he is getting.

“It’s a very satisfying product,” Schwarz says. “It contains no HAPS, yet does a fantastic job. The base achieved at least a 50 percent, if not more, reduction in reportable HAPS.”

The base was previously using a different product, but the regulatory issues were causing some problems.

“(The other products) were killing us with the HAPS reporting requirement,” he says.

Mondi says the product is specifically targeted to military installations, which are concerned with HAPs and other environmental issues.

“The big key is of eliminating the HAPs without sacrificing performance,” he says. “So far, they love the product and keep expanding its use to other applications.”

Shellef says that his company is searching for new markets and products in the parts cleaning industry category.

“We are constantly researching the market for needs, so we intend to introduce new solvents with comparable blends to address niche markets that currently are still inundated with HAPS and are facing phasing out,” he says.

For more information on Solvon, please call 513-638-5405 or visit solvon.com