With the increasing regulatory pressure on PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), which might impact the future use of fluorinated solvents in industrial parts cleaning, many companies are racing to find direct drop-in replacements. Safechem, a chemical service company and solvent risk management expert, offers a long-term perspective – the use of modified alcohols in an airtight degreaser as a future-proof cleaning solution.

Safechem’s modified alcohol solvents – Dowclene 16-series and Dualene 1601 S – are chlorine-free, bromine-free and fluorine-free. Produced synthetically, modified alcohols are stable in temperature and pH. With both non-polar and polar properties, they can effectively clean off non-polar contaminants such as oils and greases, just as effectively as certain polar contaminations like cooling emulsions or solids such as particles and abrasives.

Modified alcohols have a flashpoint and application must therefore take place in vacuum closed cleaning machines, or so-called airtight/airless degreasers. Users currently operating open/semi-open equipment are likely to see the initial equipment expenditure as a hurdle. They might also be apprehensive about changing their cleaning process altogether.
However, compared with the high consumption of fluorinated solvents (PFAS-free or not) and their running costs due to emissions and drag-out losses, a closed cleaning machine can practically pay itself back due to the many cost savings it enables – in addition to increased process safety and minimised environmental impact.

Put simply, Safechem says that solvents used in closed machines are much cheaper than fluorinated products. Furthermore, solvents can be recycled and reused much more efficiently thanks to the built-in vacuum distillation unit. Another advantage is the potential to extend solvent lifespan by using stabilisers, resulting in less consumption and fewer bath exchanges.
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