Air-Dry Solvents: What Are They, and How Are They Used?

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Some classes of solvents dry at roughly the same rate, but air-dry solvents offer a multitude of different dry times, with the ideal drying period ranging from a few seconds to a few weeks, depending on the needs of the end user. The optimal dry time for air-dry solvents depends on the applications for which they are used. To show how these types of solvents benefit end users, it helps to discuss them in terms of drying time: fast drying and slow drying.

Fast Drying Air-Dry Solvents
Air-dry solvents that have a quick rate of evaporation are perfect for certain cleaning operations, particularly those that require a quick response, such as cleaning the engines of jets that must soon return to the runway, and cleaning surfaces that are commonly used in work areas. Air-dry solvents that have a fast evaporation rate are also an excellent option for cleaning sensitive electronics, as the solution quickly evaporates instead of soaking the parts in excess solvent.

Fast drying solvents also have some benefits that apply somewhat indirectly to their use. One of these benefits is that less excess solvent is collected in the waste disposal system, which can reduce waste disposal costs, and add financial flexibility to the operating budget. Another benefit is that a fast dry rate can result in better turnaround times for various types of work orders, which ultimately translates into increased productivity that bolsters the end user’s bottom line.

Slow Drying Air-Dry Solvents
Air-dry solvents that have a slow rate of evaporation are also perfect for certain cleaning operations, especially ones that require extensive solvent application to break up tough accumulations. For example, tools that have a thick accumulation of tough substances such as carbon and tar may require a slow drying solvent in order to completely remove the accumulations. Instead of continuously applying solvent that has a fast dry rate, the end user can apply one round of solvent that has a slow dry time, and let the solution do its work.

An additional benefits of slow drying solvents include: minimizing the use of solvent, which helps reduce cleaning solution costs; and less waste chemical production, which can reduce waste disposal costs. Overall, slow drying air-dry solvents are best used for comprehensive cleaning projects that don’t require a quick turnaround time. Nevertheless, they do offer an effective way to break up tough accumulations that would be practically impossible to remove by hand.

Contact Ecolink Today
If your company or organization needs an air-dry solvent, but you are unsure about how long the drying process should last, Ecolink is here to help. We offer air-dry solvents that have a variety of different drying rates and can be used for numerous types of cleaning operations.

For assistance choosing the best air-dry solvent for your needs, give us a call today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to supplying you with the best eco friendly cleaning solvents for all of your cleaning operations!

Specialty Chemical Suppliers: Tips for Choosing the Right Supplier

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If you do a Google search using the term “specialty chemical suppliers”, you are likely to find hundreds of options for acquiring the chemicals you need. How do you separate specialty chemical suppliers that would meet your needs from ones that would not?

In this entry, we help answer this question by presenting four tips for choosing the right specialty chemical supplier: define your area of need, consider custom solutions, consider solvent profiles, and investigate the business history of any supplier you consider doing business with.

Define Your Area of Need
Before you choose a supplier, it is important to know your area of need. For example, do you need a solvent for degreasing operations, cleaning electrical parts, or simply cleaning up non-toxic spills in areas where customers or workers congregate. Defining your area of need will help you choose a specialty chemical supplier that specializes in providing the type of solution you need, and help to prevent you from ordering the wrong type of specialty cleaning solvent.

Consider Custom Solutions
You may not need a custom solvent right now, but it is a good idea to work with a supplier that creates custom chemicals, in case you need a custom solution in the future. When the end user has a novel application that requires custom chemicals, it should not settle for the next best solution to one that is custom made. Instead, it should have a solvent created that suits the application. Ecolink can create custom chemicals that are formulated for your solvent needs.

Consider Solvent Profiles
At a time when the green movement is in full swing, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proactively phasing out hazardous chemicals in commercial and industrial environments, it only makes sense to buy specialty chemicals from a supplier whose products have an eco friendly formulation. Otherwise, you could end up having to phase out your solvent on relatively short notice — a situation that can significantly hinder solvent-based cleaning tasks.

Investigate Business History
Last but certainly not least, you should investigate the business history of specialty chemical suppliers from which you are considering buying chemicals. In addition to speaking with several of a supplier’s custom references, it helps to check the company’s record at the Better Business Bureau (BBB). If a company has unresolved customer complaints on its record, consider that the next unresolved complaint could be your own, and choose a different chemical supplier.

Contact Ecolink Today
At Ecolink, we know that you have many options when it comes to choosing specialty chemical suppliers. That is why we formulate our products to provide the greatest competitive advantage. In addition to having better safety profiles than many specialty chemicals, our specialty chemicals are designed to offer efficacy that is equal or greater than the effectiveness of the conventional specialty chemicals that your company or organization may be using currently.

For assistance choosing the right solvent solutions for your needs, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to assisting you!

Chemical Manufacturing: Batch Processing Vs. Continuous Processing

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Chemical manufacturing is a subsector of the manufacturing industry. In most situations, it is performed using one of two methods: continuous processing, in which raw materials are continually fed into the manufacturing vessel, as the finished chemical is removed to create room; and batch processing, in which raw materials are placed in the vessel for longer periods of time, particularly to perform quality control checks or refine the batch through cleaning methods.

Is One Process Better Than the Other?
From the standpoint of producing the desired chemicals, batch manufacturing and continuous manufacturing are equal. Depending on the desired qualities of the product and the needs of the end user, one process can be just as efficacious as the other. However, especially for the chemical manufacturer, the processes do possess some meaningful differences.

For example, continuous processing is ideal for completing large work orders, as the chemical is constantly produced until the order is filled. Imagine heat treating steel in a continuous furnace that perpetually moves workpieces through the heating chamber on a conveyor belt. In terms of function, this is similar to what continuous chemical manufacturing is like. Now, imagine sequestering the same workpieces in the chamber of a vacuum furnace until they attain the desired metallurgical qualities. This is similar to what batch chemical manufacturing is like.

In addition to being ideal for completing large orders, continuous chemical manufacturing may involve more emissions than its counterpart, batch processing. The emissions may not increase to a level where emission caps from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) come into play, but they can impact the health of workers who inhabit the environment where chemicals are produced. If the chemicals in question are hazardous, a special ventilation system and high-level personal protective equipment (PPE) are often used to mitigate the effects.

What Determines Which Process is Used?
Batch processing is the industry standard for efficiently producing small batches of chemicals that meet unique end user requirements. In many cases, the manufacturer produces a sample solution, forwards it to the customer, and awaits feedback regarding what must be done to perfectly customize the product for the application. Consequently, small batch chemical manufacturing is commonly associated with the production of custom chemical products.

Continuous processing, on the other hand, is the industry standard for producing large volumes of chemicals, which are typically designed to meet the needs of a broad range of end users. For example, in terms of efficiency and cost, it may make more sense to use continuous processing to create a dielectric solvent that is widely used by companies in the aerospace industry. In continuous processing, supply and demand are key considerations. The manufacturer often refers to production data from the previous year, as well as industry trends, to gauge production.

Contact Ecolink for Chemical Manufacturing
Through investments in high-tech manufacturing equipment and top talent, Ecolink has the capability to batch produce custom chemicals that meet the needs of your company or organization. We also offer widely used solvents that are applicable to a variety of industries. If you need a new chemical solution, we will suggest the best option for your needs, and deliver it with a quick turnaround time. Call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to our contact page.

Custom Chemicals: Signs That Your Company Needs a Custom Cleaning Solution

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For companies that strive to improve the bottom line, almost nothing is as financially worrisome as needing a unique solution that just can’t seem to be found. This situation commonly happens to companies that use a large amount of a cleaning solvent that they need to replace. However, in the absence of a suitable replacement, these companies often keep using the original solution, hoping that the passage of time will eventually result in the creation of the product they need.

Realizing the Need
Most companies replace cleaning solvents out of need and not want. However, before a proper replacement can be found, companies must realize the need for the replacement. Does your company need a new cleaning solvent? If it experiences the signs below, the answer is probably yes. If you can’t find a proper replacement for the solution you use, the experienced team of solvent specialists at Ecolink can create a product that has the custom chemicals you need.

Health Problems in Workers
Studies on the health effects of workplace environments have shown that workers who are exposed to toxic chemical agents and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) can experience temporary and permanent health problems, including simple ailments such as chronic coughing and serious maladies such as nerve damage. Ultimately, unhealthy workers can decrease productivity, and increase operating costs due to workers comp and disability settlements.

Upcoming EPA Regulations
For years, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been on the warpath when it comes to banning and regulating the use of hazardous chemicals in commercial and industrial environments. As one might expect, these moves by the EPA can put companies in a difficult position when they necessitate the replacement of a trusted chemical solution. If necessary, we can create a product with custom chemicals that does the job and is compliant with the EPA.

Exorbitant Disposal Expense
If your company’s chemical waste disposal expense is consuming too much of its operating budget, the easiest solution would be to decrease chemical waste, not look for a more affordable waste disposal company. In some cases, creating custom cleaning solutions that contain custom chemicals — ones that don’t need to be trapped in the waste disposal system — is a highly effective way to mitigate waste disposal expense and add money to the bottom line.

New Application / New Solvent
Sometimes, a company implements a new application that requires a new solvent to produce expected results. Depending on the novelty of the application, it may be more sensible in terms of cost, time, and the efficacy of the solvent to develop a new solution that has custom chemicals instead of trying to find the best fit among existing solvents, none of which work perfectly. Ecolink will apply our expertise to help you decide whether this is a viable option.

Contact Us Today
In most cases, companies can find a replacement cleaning solution that has a better profile than the solution it replaces by simply shopping in Ecolink’s online store. However, there are also instances when the best option would be creating a solution whose custom chemicals are perfectly suited for the application. If you think that you may need a cleaning solvent with custom chemicals, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website.

Aerospace Cleaning Chemicals: Eco Friendly Solutions for Aerospace Cleaning

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Aerospace cleaning chemicals are specially formulated to adhere to the complex maintenance standards for aerospace equipment. However, many aerospace cleaning chemicals are conventional solutions that don’t meet EPA regulations for the safe use of cleaning chemicals.

Because the EPA is continually in the process of banning or regulating the use of dangerous chemicals in commercial and industrial environments, now would be an excellent time to switch to aerospace cleaning chemicals that minimally impact the environment, if they impact it at all.

Eco Friendly Solutions for Aerospace Cleaning
There are two basic forms of aerospace cleaning: cleaning the cabin of aerospace equipment, and cleaning areas outside the cabin, particularly the body of the aircraft and its mechanical components located in the engine compartment. If you need eco friendly aerospace cleaning chemicals for these tasks, we can offer you the following high-performance replacements.

Aero Kleen
This is an environmentally responsible product that is designed to remove grease, fuel oils, hydraulic fluids, carbon and organic resins without leveraging the power of toxic chemicals. Aero Kleen is formulated to comply with military/commercial conformance standards for cleaning Douglas Aircraft Company aerospace equipment and Boeing aerospace equipment.

Ecolink 2005 –  Replaced by FluoSolv
This eco friendly cleaning solution is formulated to clean electrical components and contacts in spot cleaning applications. Ecolink 2005 is especially helpful for cleaning aerospace equipment for the following businesses and organizations: NASA Dryden Research Center, Northrop Grumman, Sikorsky, and Lockheed Martin. Ecolink 2005 is also highly effective as a solution for immersion/Sonics cleaning to decontaminate oxidizer flow meters in military/commercial aircraft.

Ecolink 3005 – Replaced by FluoSolv
Ecolink 3005 is specially designed to clean away light oil and dust in a manner that makes it a valuable solution for displacing oil from canon plugs and using as an electrical contact cleaner for a variety of avionics equipment. This solution meets performance standards that are necessary for specific aircraft cleaning operations at the large avionics company Boeing.

Electron
Electron comes in two forms: original Electron and Electron 296. Electron is used as a cleaner for everything from general cleaning operations, to cleaning spectrometer burn chambers, to serving as a QPL Class II solvent remover. Electron 296 is marketed as a replacement solution for general maintenance of DOD ground equipment, weapons, and aerospace equipment.

Hypersolve
This general purpose cleaner is used for general cleaning of hydraulic components, cleaning rotating electrical equipment, and for cleaning prior to thermal spraying, to name a few. Hypersolve meets many conformation standards, including: Boeing D6-17487 Revision L, Douglas Aircraft Company, CSD #1, NAVSEA 300, and several U.S. Army DMWR’s.

Contact Us Today
For many companies and organizations, replacing hazardous aerospace cleaning chemicals with eco friendly ones can be an anxious affair. Will the new solution perform as well as the old one? Can the new solution be purchased for a price that is similar to the cost for the replaced chemical? Could the new solution help to decrease professional waste disposal costs?

When you purchase eco friendly aerospace cleaning solutions, the answer to all of these questions is yes. Ecolink specializes in creating highly efficacious, eco friendly cleaning products that help companies control emissions and help reduce negative health conditions in workers who are exposed to the solutions on a regular basis in the work environment.

For more information about our eco friendly replacement solutions for aerospace cleaning chemicals, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or refer to the contact page on our website. We look forward to helping you implement high-quality replacements for dangerous cleaning chemicals.