Degreaser reduction and the creation of an instrumental procedure to test for hydraulic oil on parts

CHED 1109

Sally A. Henrie and Nathan L. Eckley. Department of Chemistry, Union University, 1050 Union University Drive, Jackson, TN 38305
Delta Faucet uses an aqueous based degreaser parts cleaning system to remove oil and grease from machined parts. As part of their effort to reduce waste water, Delta Faucet investigated the feasibility of replacing their large degreaser with a few smaller ones. To assure that the smaller degreaser units were effective, Delta Faucet required that the machined parts be tested for cleanliness before and after degreasing. This test consisted of finding the amount of oil and grease on all the machined parts at Delta Faucet by the use of a gravimetric method. A new gravimetric procedure was created to increase time efficiency. Using this new procedure, the smaller degreasers were shown to be adequate. In addition, a new FTIR instrumental procedure was developed to replace the time consuming gravimetric procedure.