Effects of Fluid Dynamics on Cleaning Efficacy of Supercritical Fluids
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Published: 1993
Total Pages: 18
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DOWNLOAD EBOOKPacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) and Boeing Aerospace Company are developing a process to clean metal parts using a supercritical solvent. This work is part of an effort to address issues inhibiting the rapid commercialization of Supercritical Fluid Parts Cleaning (SFPC). PNL assembled a SFPC test stand to observe the relationship between the fluid dynamics of the system and the mass transfer of a contaminant from the surface of a contaminated metal coupon into the bulk fluid. The bench-scale test stand consists of a Berty'' autoclave modified for these tests and supporting hardware to achieve supercritical fluids parts cleaning. Three separate sets of tests were conducted using supercritical carbon dioxide. For the first two tests, a single stainless steel coupon was cleaned with organic solvents to remove surface residue, doped with a single contaminant, and then cleaned in the SFPC test stand. Contaminants studied were Dow Corning 200 fluid (dimethylpolysiloxane) and Castle/Sybron X-448 High-temperature Oil (a polybutane/mineral oil mixture). A set of 5-minute cleaning runs was conducted for each dopant at various autoclave impeller speeds. Test results from the first two sets of experiments indicate that precision cleaning for difficult-to-remove contaminants can be dramatically improved by introducing and increasing turbulence within the system. Metal coupons that had been previously doped with aircraft oil were used in a third set of tests. The coupons were placed in the SFPC test stand and subjected to different temperatures, pressures, and run times at a constant impeller speed. The cleanliness of each part was measured by Optically Stimulated Electron Emission. The third set of tests show that levels of cleanliness attained with supercritical carbon dioxide compare favorably with solvent and aqueous cleaning levels.
