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An Alternative Solvent with Low Global Warming Potential
January 14, 2015 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
Abstract
In the past 20 years, the solvent industry has gone through a great deal of change. In the early 1990s, CFC-113 and 1,1,1-trichloroethane were the workhorses of the industry. The Montreal Protocol to phase out substances that deplete the Earth’s protective ozone layer was implemented in the mid-1990s. After the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) solvents, the solvent industry fragmented into a variety of cleaning solutions. The electronics industry was a large user of CFC solvents, and many of these applications changed to aqueous-based cleaners.
Some segments moved to chlorinated and brominated solvents such as trichloroethylene and n-propyl bromide. Other industries changed to no-clean fluxes. But those alternatives are now facing various problems: for example, aqueousbased cleaners use a lot of energy, require long drying times, use equipment that requires frequent maintenance, and require a large footprint.
No-clean fluxes leave flux residues, and trichloroethylene and n-propyl bromide have by Rajat Basu and Ryan Hulse Honeywell International toxicity issues. In response to these serious issues, newer solvents and blends are being introduced in the marketplace.
In this pursuit, the company developed a new low global-warming potential fluorinated solvent for precision cleaning. This solvent has a mosaic of properties that make it a good solution in the solvent domain. It is non-flammable, has low toxicity, environmentally friendly, and offers low surface tension, rapid drying, excellent solvency and a number of other favourable properties. In this article, we will review the properties and performance of the new solvent.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the January 2015 issue of SMT Magazine.