[eugenedakin]

Hello,

I am attempting to find/create an alternative to methylene chloride as an additive to a cleaning solvent for certain polymer resins.  After performing slightly over 100 tests, I have reached a dead end and cannot find an equivalent to methylene chloride (my alternative cannot be extremely flammable..a.k.a. xylene, or a close derivative of a halocarbon (perchloroethylene, or n-propyl bromide) due to health hazards.

Some of my research has also shown that larger molecules (glycol ethers and the like) tend to perform quite unsatisfactorally due to their large size (molecular chain length).

The closest product that I can find (so far) is a hydrocarbon fraction that penetrates at a rate of 1/10 of that of methylene chloride.  Any other suggestions?  (Even odd and weird ideas are acceptable, since they usually form the basis of an modified idea that works).

Thanks in advance,

Eugene

[Mitch]

Have you tried all the halomethane derivatives? Chloromethane, methlene chloride, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride. By the way all of the above our cancerous, if the dose is high enough.

[eugenedakin]

Hello Mitch,

Yes, I have tried all of the derivatives.  They work well, but I cannot use them due to their un-environmentally friendly characteristics (toxicity, etc).  The dose will be very high... ~95% or higher....

Thanks for your suggestion,

Eugene

[Mitch]

dichloroethane, ethyl acetate?

[DrCMS]

What are you needing to achieve with the replacement?

[Borek]

You wanted weird ideas... When I hear 'high penetration' I always think about DMSO.

[eugenedakin]

Hello All,

Currently, Methylene Chloride (MeCl) is used as an industrial cleaner/solvent for removing paint, oil based coatings, resins, etc from metal surfaces with almost negligable corrosion and is produced in large volumes for industrial use (railcar volumes of 120,000 litres or ~31,500 gallons).  MeCl has the nasty reputation of being a known cancer causing agent.

Although highly unlikely, its replacement would be 1) environmentally friendly, 2) neutral pH, 3) non-corrosive, 4) non-toxic, 5) readily digestible by organisms which degrade waste product (a.k.a. biox unit) or anaerobic/aerobic digestion units, 6) outperform MeCl when dissolving stubborn hydrocarbons such as paraffin wax, asphaltenes, etc. 7) available in large quantities (120,000 litre railcars)...etc...   There is no single chemical that can have all of these properties going for it, so the major influence would have to be based on performance first, and all other traits/influences would be secondary.

Hmmm.. DMSO... its possible... I'll get a sample and performs tests in the lab... thanks for the suggestion.

Eugene