October 15-17, 2024 at Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida
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Expo Hours

Tuesday Oct 15 9 AM — 5 PM
Wednesday Oct 16 9 AM — 5 PM
Thursday Oct 17 9 AM — 4 PM

Venue

Orange County Convention Center

9800 International Drive
Orlando, Florida 32819

About the Expo

North America's largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event heads to Orange County Convention Center in October 2024. FABTECH provides a convenient "one stop shop" venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.

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North America's Largest Metal Forming, Fabricating, Welding and Finishing Event

From the Blog

Solvent Cleaning in today’s Environment: Understanding Government Guidelines

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By Joe McChesney on on
With the ever tightening rules and regulations imposed on solvents by Federal, State, and other regional governing bodies; today’s solvent cleaning systems must be safe, efficient, effective, environmentally compliant, and provide the required throughput to meet the end user’s needs. To understand today’s use of solvent cleaning systems, it’s important to look at how our current environmental rules and regulations were developed. For several decades solvent degreasing was the preferred cleaning method for most manufacturers.  It was generally a one step process that required less floor space, less maintenance, greater compatibility for numerous soils/substrates, and generally less costly to operate.  It provided a cleaning system that accepted any type of metal and removed most lubricants or contaminants in a single process. As scientists studied the earth’s environment, one such area of interest in the 1980’s was the ozone layer.  That quickly became a topic of great interest and concern. The scientific community theorized that the use of these solvents for degreasing, carrier fluids, and other applications was harmful to the ozone layer around the earth. One of the features that contributed to the success of solvent usage soon became the focal point of action. Public awareness increased, world government bodies formed investigative committees, chemical manufacturers performed tests, and environmental organizations made models of the atmosphere to analyze these theories. The results of these actions were the driving factors to create a worldwide pact to decrease and eliminate the use of certain solvents, first as aerosol carrier fluids and later as degreasing fluids as well as other applications. Based on the world opinion of environmental stewardship, a group of nations formed and sanctioned the rules and regulations concerning these solvents. This meeting and joint agreement became known as the “Montreal Protocol”. After the initial regulations were established the following new environmental regulations were enacted:
  • Prohibit the use of some solvents.
  • Regulate the amount of others that could be used.
  • Establish future replacement/phase-out dates for some.
  • Enact new regulations for the equipment that used these solvents.
  • Require “warning label notices” to be applied to products cleaned in certain solvents during the phase-out period.
  • Set and enforce limits for air emissions concerning equipment operator exposure, actual equipment emissions to the atmosphere, and the amount of solvent that a company could use within a defined time frame.
The industry had to adapt to certain changes and restrictions. Throughout the 90’s the effects of recent regulations dictated more changes and as a result:
  • NESHAP (The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants) developed-degreasers regulated by this Federal guideline. Approximately 50% of degreasers nationwide retrofitted to meet these rules.
  • SNAP prohibited certain solvents, some limited by this Federal guideline.
  • Some solvent users change to different SNAP approved solvent
  • Many companies switch to alternative processes based on misinformation or fear of any future solvent regulations
  • Many companies switch based on environmental outlook / corporate direction
  • Many companies switch based on Federal/state/local record keeping requirements
  • Switch sometimes “ Too Quick” and ended up with wrong equipment/chemistry/application, and/or process
As a result, the industry went through a learning period. And today there are a few companies that are still not aware of the effects of new regulations and continue using solvents that are not in compliance.  Hear more from Joe next week during two FABTECH Education Sessions C51: Pretreatment Regulations and S10: Lubricant Application and Cleaning. http://www.kyzen.com/Fabtech2016/  

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