JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #59 - August/September 2010 - 40

FEATURE

“Marine”

Presaturated wipes reduce VOC emissions
European regulations require the reduction of VOC emissions, as they contribute to global warming. Presaturated solvent wipes is one solution that can be found in the market. As industrial companies have learned, the concept involves a number of other advantages.
wipes, the fibres, binding techniques, thickness and saturation rate are carefully selected to provide just the right quantity of solvent for the application, and the texture of the wipes remains consistently homogeneous. Some customers have observed a tendency that people have, when not using presaturated wipes, to soak the cotton cloth with much more product than is needed. This can be due to the preconceived idea that the more product used, the more efficient the cleaning operation, or simply to the fact that the cotton absorbs more of the product than it releases. Some of the solvents used, e.g. methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) or acetone, are highly volatile, and because the cloths generally become soiled before all of the solvent is used up, the residual solvent evaporates into the atmosphere when the cloth is discarded.

EMILIE CHAMPAGNE TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER, SOCOMORE

ocomore has been manufacturing and developing speciality chemicals since 1970. For the past ten years, the company has been combining this knowhow with textiles for surface preparation and protection applications. In Europe, it has now launched presaturated non-woven solvent wipes that are ready for use. The concept provides a way to comply with the 1999 European directive requiring a reduction in the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOC). A number of industrial sectors which are major consumers of solvents (for surface preparation before painting, bonding or sealing) have been searching for solutions. The use of wipes that are presaturated with solvents or other cleaning products is eco-friendly, safer for operators, and productivity Fig.1: Socomore’s presaturated wipe concept boosting (Figure 1).

Fig.2: Comparison of residual and useful solvent amounts when using wipes or cotton cloths

A gesture for the environment
The presaturated wipe system was designed to optimize the amount of solvent used for a given application (see Figure 2). The quality of the cleaning operation depends on the interaction between textile, solvent and contaminant. Cotton cloths are often made from recycled materials from various sources, with different fibres, weaves, thicknesses and sizes that lead to less consistent cleaning results. For non-woven

In some cases (e.g. during customer trials), it was observed that the quantity of textile waste can be reduced by as much as 75% by using presaturated wipes instead of cloth. It is only logical that using the wipes – which not only are less saturated than cloths, but can be used more sparingly – also cuts down on VOC emissions. The use of less-volatile solvents than traditional solvents like MEK or acetone results in up to 80% lower VOC emissions. Diestone DLS is

jec composites magazine / No59 August - September 2010

JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #59 - August/September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #59 - August/September 2010