Does your Vapor Degreaser meet MACT Standards?

Recently, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspected vapor degreasers at several plants, in a variety of industries, and unfortunately, every plant involved in the inspection did not comply with the EPA’s Vapor Degreaser Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) Standard. The average penalty cost levied on each plant found not to be compliant was over then thousand dollars, which, because the penalties are not tax deductible, had to be paid out of the profits of each company. Additional costs were involved as well, such as management time, fees for both attorneys and consultants, along with wasted solvents. The following were reasons for non-compliance found during the inspections:

  • Ecolink1The chain hoist used to lower and raise a parts container into the vapor degreaser exceeded the maximum allowable speed of eleven feet per minute. The reason for the specified maximum speed is to assure the vapor blanket is not disrupted to the extent that vapor spills out of the degreaser and emanates into the air.
  • The temperature at the center of the air blanket did not comply with the requirement that the temperature be thirty percent or less of the solvent’s boiling point. This ensures that the solvent vapors condense and fall back into the sump tank rather than evaporating throughout the plant.
  • The freeboard ratio was not measured correctly. Freeboard ratio is the ratio of the freeboard height to the smaller interior dimension (length, width or diameter) of the machine.
  • Covers were not in place when the degreaser was not in use.

In addition, (and a hint to those industrial businesses finding it difficult to meet compliance standards) the biggest tip-off that violations are present comes when entering a shop and one can smell the distinct odor of degreaser solvent.

The best way to ensure your vapor degreaser meets MACT standards is to incorporate Ecolink’s Hypersolve vapor degreaser. Hypersolve is a new cleaner solvent vapor degreaser based on n-propyl bromide as an alternative for traditional chlorinated solvents. Hypersolve has very low ozone depletion potential (0.002) and no flash point. Applications include the ability to vapor degrease a variety of contaminants and substrates. Hypersolve cleans difficult contaminants such as oils, greases, adhesives, solder fluxes, and resins.

Hypersolve is a diverse compound that has numerous applications including the following:

  • Drying agent
  • Precision cleaning
  • Cleaner/degreaser
  • Automotive parts cleaning
  • Printed wiring board cleaning
  • Adhesive and sealant removal
  • Surface wipe cleaning
  • Carbon soil removal
  • Metal cleaning, hydraulic parts, wheels and brakes

If your business is in need of any of the above applications, then let Ecolink help you make the transition to their Hypersolve vapor degreaser to ensure you are compliant with MACT standards concerning vapor degreasers. When switching to Ecolink’s Hypersolve, your industrial business immediately reduces its chance of being found non compliant with MACT standards.

Can Companies Save Money Using Green Industrial Cleaners?

By now, industrial organizations should already know the importance of using green industrial cleaners, as it is paramount to improving the safety aspects of the workplace, the employees performing labor in the work place, and the environment. This is due to the extreme push by eco friendly conscious companies such as Ecolink to inform and educate industrial businesses of the potential risks and hazards they place their facilities and employees in each and every day, as well as help these industrial businesses transition to a green industrial cleaner. What companies might not know about is the additional incentive included should an industrial company decide to switch to a green industrial cleaner. The additional incentive, an enticement from which all companies can benefit, is that companies can save money using green industrial cleaners. EcolinkImage

What?! How can companies save money using green industrial cleaners?! It is no surprise to us that most company executives would read the above statement and be suspicious to the veracity of the claim. Why? Well, for one, most people associate eco friendly and green alternative options as expensive. For example, solar energy: To place solar panels on a home to be able to utilize solar power would cost so much that the estimation of how long it would take for people to realize a cost savings is over fifteen years. Subsequently, more people are deciding that the initial price does not justify the far reaching final conclusion. There are other examples of large expense attached to green alternative solutions, such as natural gas. People read these wonderful, but practically unfeasible eco friendly options and associate exorbitant cost with any green alternative solution. This assumption is understandable, but luckily, this does no pertain to the use of green industrial cleaners.

Green alternative industrial cleaners have been developed with inexpensive chemical compound solutions – significantly less costly than the conventional industrial solvents. Therefore, because of the reduce cost in developing, the retail cost for an industrial company to implement its use is much lower than what they were previously paying for their effective, yet harmful cleaner and degreaser. One of the most important aspects to a company is finding ways to reduce overhead while still being able to maintain efficiency in operation and full functionality. As it concerns industrial businesses, they have been bestowed unbelievable fortune in the offering of an eco friendly, green industrial cleaner that will clean and degrease parts, metals, and materials of grime, dirt, grease, oil, rust, and other potentially harmful particles as well as or better than their older model. In addition, the company will significantly reduce the exposure of their workers to harmful substances, as well as reduce the hazard to the environment, along with reduce the monthly, or annual cost of purchasing an industrial cleaner solvent.

Ecolink’s mission statement clearly defines their goals regarding industrial cleaning:

To eliminate the waste and pollution of duplicate, unnecessary, harmful and non-complying and/or non-conforming chemicals through lean(er) chemical solutions including customizable delivery, dispensing, distillation, filtration and recycling/reclamation systems.

Call today to start saving: 800-563-1305

 

Protect the Air you Breathe with Environmentally Conscious Industrial Cleaners

For those employees that work for an industrial organization that uses industrial cleaners to clean and degrease parts, metals, and materials with dirt, grime, grease, rust, stains, and other prohibitive particles, many only worry about the cleaning solution causing harm if they come into contact with the solvent. Rarely is any attention paid to the long term negative side effects to breathing in the gaseous toxins emanating from the solution. This is a naïve and incorrect assumption, as breathing in the airborne toxins can be as dangerous, if not more dangerous than having the contents spill on your skin. Though wearing a mask might be a quick and easy short term solutions, toxins can still pervade through the mask, and the toxins can also be absorbed into the materials in your clothing, meaning you will be breathing in the hazardous gases as long as you are wearing the clothing, which can subsequently cause serious conditions later in life. Ecolink1Although workers might be ignorant of the fact that they are putting themselves sin hazardous conditions when using older industrial cleaners, it is the job of the business owner to be on top of all the information related to his or her business, including the products being used. This includes protecting the air breathed by employees, which can be done by implementing environmentally conscious industrial cleaners in the workplace. Fortunately for business owners, there are options available that include making the move to eco friendly, green alternative industrial cleaners that perform cleaning and degreasing with the same efficiency as your out of date model. In addition, the newer, updated industrial cleaners and degreasers are less expensive than most older model solvents, which will reduce your overhead.

New model industrial cleaners are considered low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) solvents, meaning they emit a gas that is considered safe for both people to breath and for the environment to absorb. Making this easy and seamless transition will protect the air your breathe with the use of environmentally conscious industrial cleaners. For assistance in switching to a low VOC chemical compound solution, a company called Ecolink will be happy to help you.

Ecolink is in the trade of helping industrial companies discover whether their current chemical cleaning agent is hazardous to the air employees breathe, and if your solvent is indeed polluting the air, Ecolink can assist you in changing out your current industrial cleaner with an eco friendly, green alternative solution. All you need to do is reach out to Ecolink, and a representative will be happy to explain to you their craft, evaluate your current industrial degreaser, and transition you to a safer cleaner if you must. Protect the air you and your workers breathe in the workplace with environmentally conscious industrial cleaners; you will help save the environment if you do.

What is an Industrial Aqueous Parts Cleaning Solvent?

When operating in the workshop of an industrial organization, several different kinds of labor are performed, which mostly involve the use of industrial components that include parts, metals, materials, chemical solutions, oils, gas, and many other products. Most often, an industrial organization will need to clean the workshop in order to rid the area of potential contaminants that could harm or negatively affect the next operation, the workers laboring in the workshop, or even the environment. This is why industrial parts cleaners are important to industrial businesses, as they rely on a strong and efficient cleaning mechanism or component to ensure the complete cleansing of a location. One of the reliable types of cleaning is called industrial aqueous parts cleaning. This blog is dedicated to explaining how this industrial parts cleaning option functions.

When the cleaning needs to be done on site, many industrial businesses will employ the use of an aqueous industrial parts cleaner. Aqueous and semi-aqueous agents incorporate the emulsion of solvents and water – a cleaning solution – that effectively cleans a Ecolink1workstation. Aqueous cleaners are usually a combination of various substances, including alkaline builders, surfactants, sequestering agents, and other amalgamations. As it pertains to ferrous metal cleaning, rust inhibitors are built into the aqueous cleaner to prevent “flash rusting” after washing. The use of aqueous industrial parts cleaners are on the rise as its results have proven, in most cases, to be as effective or even better than hydrocarbon cleaners. In addition, the waste generated from using aqueous industrial parts cleaners are less hazardous, subsequently resulting in less costly disposal.

Aqueous industrial parts cleaners have advantages pertaining to particle and polar contaminants, and the cleaning solution only requires higher inputs of mechanical and thermal energy to be effective. Whereas, certain other solvents more easily remove oils and greases, but have health and environmental risks. In addition, most other industrial parts cleaning solvents are flammable, and consequently lead to a higher chance of fire and explosive hazards. Today, with the proper industrial parts washer equipment, it is generally accepted that aqueous industrial parts cleaners remove oil and grease as easily as solvents.

Ecolink1The above information is only the tip of the iceberg concerning what industrial companies need to know about aqueous industrial parts cleaners. It is highly recommended that you conduct your own research, and contact an authority on the topic, such as Ecolink. Ecolink has been working with industrial organizations to find the most efficient industrial parts cleaning solutions that are also eco friendly and provide a green alternative to harmful chemicals found in older parts cleaning solvents. An Ecolink representative will be happy to provide further information on aqueous industrial parts cleaners, and help examine whether this is the right industrial parts cleaning solution for your business.

Balancing Industrial Cleaning Requirements with Worker Safety

Company owners are responsible for the well being of their employees, and should implement safety procedures and protocol to maintain the safety of those workers while performing their duties. You probably would not find a business owner who would disagree with that statement. Having said that, the degree of danger workers place themselves in at the work place varies greatly, depending on the type of industry for which they are employed. As it pertains to industrial jobs – working with parts, metals, materials, and other industrial and mechanical products – there might not be another career where the calculated risk performing duties is greater. Most business decision makers stress over the physical requirements of a job site, or the heavy machinery and products that, if handled incorrectly, could cause serious harm or injury to an employee. However, at most of the job sites where parts, metals, and materials come through on a regular basis, these products need to be cleaned before being put into operation. This means workers will be handling industrial cleaners to rid these products of dirt, grime, stains, grease, rust, and other particles that could negatively affect a product’s functionality. Business owners need to realize that, if they have not switched to an eco friendly or green alternative industrial cleaning solvent, there is a chance of a mitigation of worker safety.

Older industrial cleaning products use ingredients and chemical agents that can negatively affect people using the chemical, even those within close proximity to the chemical cleaning solution. These hazardous agents can even hurt the environment. However,Ecolink1 even with this in mind, company owners might be hesitant to make the transition to a new cleaning solution because of the reliability of the current solvent. The key for business owners what need to maintain the quality of worker safety, but still incorporate the use of a trustworthy industrial cleaning solvent need to find a method of balancing their industrial cleaning requirements with worker safety. That is why it is imperative for these owners to become more educated on new, solvent degreasing, eco friendly cleaners and degreasers that can clean and degrease as well as older solutions, and also provide a much higher level of worker safety those older solutions cannot provide. The best way to educate owners is through the interaction of organizations whose purpose is to inform and redirect industrial businesses that use cleaning solvents to transition to green alternative chemical agents. One company that can lend assistance is Ecolink.

Ecolink has been providing vast knowledge to industrial companies for a long time, providing statistics on chemical compounds that are hazardous and unsafe for people and the environment, while at the same time providing eco friendly alternatives that have proven to clean and degrease products without any drop off in efficiency whatsoever. It is recommended to any industrial organization that has not already made a switch to newer and safer cleaning agents to consult with Ecolink, so your business can effectively balance industrial cleaning requirements with worker safety, while at the same time lowering your cost of purchasing industrial cleaning solutions.