Grantee Research Project Results
2002 Progress Report: Superheated Water and Steam Degreasing of Working Stocks, Parts, and Equipment in Machining, Manufacturing and Production Processes and Operations
EPA Grant Number: R828246Title: Superheated Water and Steam Degreasing of Working Stocks, Parts, and Equipment in Machining, Manufacturing and Production Processes and Operations
Investigators: Weber, Walter J.
Institution: University of Michigan
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: September 1, 2000 through August 31, 2003 (Extended to August 31, 2004)
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2002
Project Amount: $320,000
RFA: Technology for a Sustainable Environment (1999) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , Sustainable and Healthy Communities
Objective:
Greases, lubricating oils, and similar organic preparations are ubiquitous in virtually all machine-element related processes and operations. Chlorinated organic solvents or extremely harsh aqueous-based reagents typically have been used for degreasing operations. They are recognized widely as hazardous to both the environment and to human health. In this project, the development of alternative degreasing methods that employ essentially pure water are being explored—specifically, the superheated liquid and steam states of water. These environmentally benign solvent media have significant potential for beneficial use in a wide variety of degreasing and decoating applications. The objectives of this research project are to: (1) evaluate the efficacy of using superheated water and steam (SHWS) for degreasing surfaces; (2) characterize and investigate the separation and recycling of water and grease; (3) investigate the use of salts, surfactants, and other complexing agents to SHWS systems; and (4) demonstrate the general applicability of the SHWS degreasing systems by evaluating their effectiveness for a wide variety of greases and materials.
Progress Summary:
A wide variety of greases have been employed to accomplish the objectives, based on their types of components (e.g., base oils and thickeners). Accomplishments include the development of a reliable analytical method to evaluate grease removal efficiency using Horizontal Attenuated Total Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and analyzing SHWS degreasing effectiveness for a wide variety of greases and lubricating oils. Water pressure did not exhibit a noticeable effect on the removal efficiency for grease materials tested, but increasing operating temperature remarkably improved the removal of grease materials. Because the dielectric constant decreases with increasing temperature, the water becomes similar to hydrophobic solvent, which can effectively solubilize hydrophobic grease materials. Experiments for the optimization of operation time are in progress, but preliminary data support the removal efficiencies approaching a maximum point at which no more significant increase of efficiency was observed. This observation suggests that the superheated water system needs to be optimized with respect to the operation time to obtain a process-efficient and cost-effective treatment system. Steam treatment was more or less effective than superheated water depending on characteristics and properties of base oils, thickeners, and additives of grease materials. Those results suggest the need for the optimized combination of SHWS treatments to achieve the best removal efficiency.
Future Activities:
Experimental work in the next reporting period will be focused on Objectives 2, 3, and 4. Separation techniques such as centrifugation and flash vessels currently are being developed to separate the grease materials from water. The water and grease materials then will be analyzed either by grease manufacturers or by available analytical instruments (e.g., gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, FTIR, etc.) to determine any characteristic and property changes and the possibility of recycling. Afterwards, surfactants, salts, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and salts, and other complexing agents will be added to explore their effects on grease removal efficiency associated with superheated water and/or steam. Finally, various types of metal parts, such as chrome, will be examined in addition to stainless steel.
Journal Articles on this Report : 15 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 17 publications | 15 publications in selected types | All 15 journal articles |
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Butler MN, Weber Jr WJ. Accelerated transformation and deactivation of erythromycin in superheated water. 1. Temperature effects, transformation rates, and the impacts of dissolved organic matter. Environmental Science & Technology 2005;39(7):2294-2300. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Butler MN, Weber Jr WJ. Accelerated transformation and deactivation of erythromycin in superheated water. 2. Transformation reactions and bioassays. Environmental Science & Technology 2005;39(7):2301-2306. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Gullick RW, Weber Jr WJ. Evaluation of shale and organoclays as sorbent additives for low-permeability soil containment barriers. Environmental Science & Technology 2001;35(7):1523-1530. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Huang QG, Selig H, Weber Jr WJ. Peroxidase-catalyzed oxidative coupling of phenols in the presence of geosorbents: rates of non-extractable product formation. Environmental Science & Technology 2002;36(4):596-602. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Huang QG, Weber Jr WJ. Interactions of soil-derived dissolved organic matter with phenol in peroxidase-catalyzed oxidative coupling reactions.Environmental Science & Technology 2004;38(1):338-344. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Huang QG, Weber Jr WJ. Peroxidase-catalyzed coupling of phenol in the presence of model inorganic and organic solid phases. Environmental Science & Technology 2004;38(19):5238-5245. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Johnson MD, Huang WG, Weber Jr WJ. A distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments 13. Simulated diagenesis of natural sediment organic matter and its impact on sorption/desorption equilibria. Environmental Science & Technology 2001;35(8):1680-1687. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Johnson MD, Keinath TM 2nd, Weber Jr WJ. A distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments. 14. Characterization and modeling of phenanthrene desorption rates. Environmental Science & Technology 2001;35(8):1688-1695. |
R828246 (2002) R825962 (Final) |
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Johnson MD, Weber Jr WJ. Rapid prediction of long-term rates of contaminant desorption from soils and sediments. Environmental Science & Technology 2001;35(2):427-433. |
R828246 (2002) R825962 (Final) |
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Kim SH, Weber Jr WJ. Preferential surfactant utilization by a PAH-degrading strain: effects on micellar solubilization phenomena. Environmental Science & Technology 2003;37(16):3574-3580. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Selig H, Keinath 2nd TM, Weber Jr WJ. Sorption and manganese-induced oxidative coupling of hydroxylated aromatic compounds by natural geosorbents.Environmental Science & Technology 2003;37(18):4122-4127. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Weber Jr WJ, LeBoeuf EJ, Young TM, Huang W. Contaminant interactions with geosorbent organic matter:insights drawn from polymer sciences. Water Research 2001;35(4):853-868. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Weber Jr WJ, Kim SH, Johnson MD. Distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments. 15. High-concentration co-contaminant effects on phenanthrene sorption and desorption. Environmental Science & Technology 2002;36(16):3625-3634. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Weber Jr WJ, Huang QG. Inclusion of persistent organic pollutants in humification processes: direct chemical incorporation of phenanthrene via oxidative coupling. Environmental Science & Technology 2003;37(18):4221-4227. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Weber W, Kim H. Removal of greases and lubricating oils from metal parts of machinery processes by subcritical water treatment. JOURNAL OF SUPERCRITICAL FLUIDS 2013;80:30-37. |
R828246 (2002) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
degreasing, steam degreasing, superheated water, water, solvents, benign solvents, green chemistry, sustainable development, clean technologies, innovative technology, environmentally conscious manufacturing, cost benefit, environmental chemistry, alternative materials, cleaner production, environmentally benign solvents, green process systems, in-process changes, machining, process modification, production processes, green technology, pollution prevention., Sustainable Industry/Business, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Water, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Environmental Chemistry, Wastewater, cleaner production/pollution prevention, Environmental Engineering, degreasing, process modification, steam degreasing, pollution prevention, machining, production processes, environmentally conscious manufacturing, superheated water, in-process changes, solvents, water treatment, alternative materials, cleaner production, green process systems, innovative technologyProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.