So how much SHOULD you pay to replace AK-225? That depends on several factors such as Nonflammable? Solvency (Kb value)? Need for azeotropes? Tolerance of chlorinated solvents? Toxicity exposure limits (PPM)? VOC content?
In order to continue to operate with nonflammable solvents for your degreasing applications you have limited choices. Methylene Chloride, TCE and PERC have documented health hazards and banned in multiple parts of world and US. nPB, n-propyl bromide hazard alert has proposed 0.1 PPM exposure limit leaving wildly expensive HFC’s, HFE’s and HFPO’s.
Primary suppliers include: Chemtronics®, CRC®, LPS®, MicroCare®, Miller Stephenson, and TECHSPRAY® and now Ecolink offers a complete line of bulk and aerosol options custom made specific to your environment.
Degreasing
The AK-225 phase-out has many industrial consumers navigating expensive cost-benefit trade-offs on replacement options. One of the primary applications of AK-2225, precision degreasing of metals, typically involves vapor degreasing equipment (ex: Baron Blakeslee, Branson) and aerosols. Call 888-996-8436 ext 125 or email to explore custom blends specific to your budget, regulatory compliance requirements.
Fair market value: Bulk = $120-180/gal or $10.50-13.25/lb, Aerosol = $12-22/can
Defluxing
Removing R, RMA, RA Rosin-based flux, no-clean and lead free flux often involves high value parts and people. In bulk and aerosol settings, balancing defluxing performance with worker’s health and safety leaves little margin for error. There are multiple hot and cold ways of defluxing in equipment or soak tanks and countless aerosol options. So where do you get best bang for $?
Fair market value: Bulk = $110-150/gal or $9.40 – 12.35/lb, Aerosol = $9-18/can
Contact Cleaning Aerosols
Rapid evaporation. No volatile residue (NVR). Plastic Compatible. No ODC (ozone depleting chemicals). Sound familiar? Most of the tried and true blends on the market are slightly different versions of the same recipe. All of them remove oxides, oil, grease and dust from electrical contacts, relays, encoders, slide wires, rheostats, distribution panels and switching devices.
Fair market value: Aerosol = $15-25/can
The tricky part with choosing among aerosol suppliers is two-fold:
1) Size of can, # of ounces. Simply put, filling more ounces requires fewer cans.
2) Propellant as % of total fill. This is difficult to catch as there are LOTS of fancy words and CAS #‘s that are impossible to pronounce or determine if it actually cleans.
Bottom line: do not get fooled on price per can. Not sure how to determine if you are paying more than fair market value? Call 888-996-8436 ext 125 or email.
n Propyl Bromide Solvent Information
/in N-Propyl Bromide/by Industrial DegreasersHow to Reduce Exposure to CAS 106-94-5 n-PB, 1-Bromopropane
Solvent Substitution – Using Safer Alternatives
Using Less n-Propyl Bromide
Whether solvent or aqueous cleaning, using less is smart business and keeps your workers o
ut of harms way. Keeping containers and equipment (lid on vapor degreasing unit) closed between uses and converting to pre-saturated wipes from nPB solvent soaked rags and keeping rags or pre-sat wipes sealed in an airtightcontainer. For aerosol applications, you may encounter CRC® or LPS®. We offer lots of custom options including bigger can size, more useable content (less propellant) blends. You can even name the product if you’d like!
Personal Protection – Ventilation, Respiratory and Skin Protection
Local exhaust ventilation is most effective to capture contaminated air at the source before nPB
solvent can spread into your breathing zone. Next best is general ventilation or a 
fan-powered system to bring fresh air into work area as open doors and windows provide very little ventilation. A
half face respirator with organic vapor cartridge and/or mist pre-filter cartridges are recommended, NOT dust 
masks. Wear chemical protective clothing such as gloves, aprons and protective gloves for skin protection.
AK 225 Ban
/in AK225/by Industrial DegreasersHCFC 225 BAN 12-31-14 (CAS # 422-56-0 AND 507-55-1)
HCFC-225 is a mixture of two isomers, HCFC-225ca and HCFC-225cb. A common source of HCFC-225 is from Asahi Glass Company as Asahiklin AK-225, a precision cleaning solvent. AK-225 has many unique properties, including good solvency, and thermal stability. AK-225 is nonflammable. AK-225 is VOC exempt, per the EPA. VOCs are smog producing compounds that are highly regulated. AK-225 also has a low acute toxicity (the exposure level of AK-225 is 100 ppm 8h TWA), low viscosity, high density, and low surface tension. Due to the ozone depleting potentials of HCFC-225ca and HCFC-225cb, 0.02 and 0.03, respectively, it is now being phased out.
Property characteristics
To date, the EPA has approved more than 300 substitutes for over 60 different uses. Potential substitutes for HCFC-225 include 3M HFEs, DuPont™ Vertrel® Solvents, and FluoSolv® Performance Fluids.
What is your application? Do you need bulk and/or aerosol packaging?
For More Information: Brandon Pelissero
Contact Info:
Office:800-409-3142
Cell: 404-229-2406
Email: info@ecolink.com
AK-225 Replacement Options
/in AK225/by Industrial DegreasersNot for much longer. Depending on who you ask in the industry and US government regulatory agencies the official mandated phase-out date is December 31, 2014 for HCFC-225 commonly known as Asahiklin AK-225 for precision cleaning, 225AES, 225T and 225ATE for defluxing, drying where alcohol azeotropes are used, 225DH for displacement drying and 225G for oxygen cleaning. Several notable sources are exiting the market by mid-year as early as June 2014. This material is manufactured in Japan and requires at least three months scheduling to allow for ocean shipping. Time’s up! Need help sourcing an alternative? Please call 888-996-8436 ext 125 or email to explore ready-to-ship and sell off-the-shelf solutions or work with our technical team to design custom blend specific to your success criteria in bulk and aerosol packaging.
AK225 Phase-out 12/31/14
Vapor Degreasing
Aerosol Applications
AK-225 Replacement Options
/in AK225/by Industrial DegreasersIn order to continue to operate with nonflammable solvents for your degreasing applications you have limited choices. Methylene Chloride, TCE and PERC have documented health hazards and banned in multiple parts of world and US. nPB, n-propyl bromide hazard alert has proposed 0.1 PPM exposure limit leaving wildly expensive HFC’s, HFE’s and HFPO’s.
Primary suppliers include: Chemtronics®, CRC®, LPS®, MicroCare®, Miller Stephenson, and TECHSPRAY® and now Ecolink offers a complete line of bulk and aerosol options custom made specific to your environment.
Degreasing
The AK-225 phase-out has many industrial consumers navigating expensive cost-benefit trade-offs on replacement options. One of the primary applications of AK-2225, precision degreasing of metals, typically involves vapor degreasing equipment (ex: Baron Blakeslee, Branson) and aerosols. Call 888-996-8436 ext 125 or email to explore custom blends specific to your budget, regulatory compliance requirements.
Fair market value: Bulk = $120-180/gal or $10.50-13.25/lb, Aerosol = $12-22/can
Defluxing
Removing R, RMA, RA Rosin-based flux, no-clean and lead free flux often involves high value parts and people. In bulk and aerosol settings, balancing defluxing performance with worker’s health and safety leaves little margin for error. There are multiple hot and cold ways of defluxing in equipment or soak tanks and countless aerosol options. So where do you get best bang for $?
Fair market value: Bulk = $110-150/gal or $9.40 – 12.35/lb, Aerosol = $9-18/can
Contact Cleaning Aerosols
Rapid evaporation. No volatile residue (NVR). Plastic Compatible. No ODC (ozone depleting chemicals). Sound familiar? Most of the tried and true blends on the market are slightly different versions of the same recipe. All of them remove oxides, oil, grease and dust from electrical contacts, relays, encoders, slide wires, rheostats, distribution panels and switching devices.
Fair market value: Aerosol = $15-25/can
The tricky part with choosing among aerosol suppliers is two-fold:
1) Size of can, # of ounces. Simply put, filling more ounces requires fewer cans.
2) Propellant as % of total fill. This is difficult to catch as there are LOTS of fancy words and CAS #‘s that are impossible to pronounce or determine if it actually cleans.
Bottom line: do not get fooled on price per can. Not sure how to determine if you are paying more than fair market value? Call 888-996-8436 ext 125 or email.
n-Propyl Bromide Replacement
/in N-Propyl Bromide/by Industrial Degreasersn-Propyl Bromide Exposure Risks
In March 2013, National Toxicology Program (NTP) and a panel of experts unanimously voted to list 1-bromopropane, also known
as nPB, CAS # 106-94-5, as a “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen,” based on the animal studies presented by NTP to include as part of their 13th Report on Carcinogens (RoC). This coincides with a study by US Department of Defense to lower TLV-TWA to 0.1 PPM.
Vapor Degreasing
For almost 20 years, nPB served as a drop-in replacement for chlorinated solvents such as TCE and PERC to remove adhesives, greases, hydraulic fluids, metalworking fluids, oils, sealants and waxes in vapor degreasing operations. Enviro Tech, Petroferm and Solvon are primary suppliers for bulk cleaning.
Currently, fluorinated blends (HFC, HFE and HFPO) offer much higher & safer work exposure limits (200 PPM versus 0.1 PPM) and added benefits of reduced material handling (i.e. stabilizing, acid acceptance testing and dumping/recharging solvent), energy reduction (almost 40%, 43C vs 71C), superior cleaning performance at a lower lifecycle cost of ownership.
Email or call 888-996-8436 ext 125.
Aerosol Applications
nPB is readily used and packaged in aerosol cans for the effective removal of grease, oil, corrosion and sludge from gears, bearings, motors and contact cleaning where sensitive plastics are not involved. CRC® and LPS® are two primary aerosol providers of various blends with nPB. If you are using No Flash, Electra X or Electronic Degreaser, Super Degreaser it is time to switch and reduce your worker’s exposure to nPB.
Ecolink offers multiple custom blends that are safer, cost-effective and perform. Email or call 888-996-8436 ext 125.
Replacement by the Numbers
For vapor degreasing applications, the acquisition cost of nPB at $4-6/lb. compared to fluorinated options at $9-12/lb. is not the way to calculate replacement costs. Solvent bath life and process time (up time) will more than offset acquisition cost variance with most conversions generating positive ROI and cash flow in less than 12 months. For aerosol applications, cost $/can is flat. Fair market value:
Degreasing = $12-22/can
Defluxing = $9-18/can
Contact cleaning = $15-25/can