Is Cleaning With Bromothane™
In a Vapor Degreaser Better than
Cleaning with an Aqueous Cleaning System?

Wow! "Better" is a tricky word. While we really like the Bromothane™ and believe they are excellent products in the right applications, even we would be hard-pressed to simply say they are "better" than any other product every time, all the time. There simply are too many variables.

 • Bromothane Benefits  •

So let's just re-cap for a second. Customers choose Bromothane™ because Bromothane™ solvents make cleaning easy, fast, safe and reliable. All of these factors combine together to make Bromothane™ more affordable than any other cleaning technology in most applications.

Bromothane™ solvents are used in special, engineered cleaning systems called "vapor degreasers." For a vapor cleaning to work, you need both a special solvent -- a volatile, nonflammable solvent -- and one of these special machines. It's the combination of "solvent+equipment" which makes for a highly effective cleaning process.

 • Bromothane Outperforms Aqueous Cleaners in Many Applications • 

Now, what about aqueous and semi-aqueous cleaning systems? This is a big generalization, but in general if we want to compare a typical Bromothane™ solvents in a vapor degreaser with a competing aqueous cleaning system, the aqueous system will tend to be:

• much larger than the Bromothane™ cleaner while accomplishing the same cleaning task, and...

• more complex than the Bromothane™ cleaner to operate and maintain, and...

• Use more complex chemistries than the Bromothane™ cleaner to accomplish the same degree of cleanliness, and...

• Deliver less consistent cleaning than the Bromothane™ cleaner because the cleaning results from an aqueous system varies as the chemistry changes, while solvent cleaning is extremely consistent, and...

• require more intricate water handling systems (for both pre-treatment and waste-handling post-treatment systems), and...

• be more expensive to operate and maintain than the Bromothane™ system, 

• consume more energy than the Bromothane™ cleaner,

• take up more floor space than the Bromothane™ cleaner, and

• clean more slowly than a similarly-sized Bromothane™ cleaning system (slower through-put).

So you see, aqueous cleaners are inherently less cost-effective than solvent cleaners because they use a more complex chemistry. The effectiveness of an aqueous system will vary as the chemistry varies. It's very hard to produce good, consistent cleaning with an aqueous system.

So, when looking at the total cost per part cleaned in many common applications, the Bromothane™ system is simply less expensive to operate. But the benefits don't just stop there.

 • Bromothane Is Versatile  •

Bromothane™ systems also are more versatile. They are able to clean in many applications where water simply doesn't work. Bromothane™ systems can accomplish tasks that water simply can't do, like cleaning under tight components and depositing lubricants onto precision surfaces. At some point, the price-per-pound isn't the issue -- it's simply "getting the job done." In those cases, Bromothane™ wins when you compare the total cost to operate aqueous systems versus the total cost to operate solvent systems. Bromothane™ wins because it delivers the lowest TOTAL cost per-part-cleaned.

Worker safety is another important criteria at which the Bromothane™ solvents and vapor degreasers come out on top. The basic solvent is nonflammable, nonconductive, non-corrosive, and all the other "non's" you can think of. Plus, vapor degreasing is an inherently safe process. So a properly engineered and operated degreaser with Bromothane™ is a very safe system indeed.

The environment is another important issue where Bromothane™ wins. The solvent is ozone-safe with an ODP so close to zero and an atmospheric life so brief that it isn't even listed in the Montreal Protocol. Many of the blends are 100% VOC but have very low global warming indices. Plus, it's important to remember, the whole nature of the cleaning process is to contain the solvent inside the cleaning machine, so emissions are not a major factor.

Lastly, a cleaning machine using Bromothane™ doesn't use any water -- which is getting scarce in some regions -- and it uses very little expensive electricity and returns almost no hazardous waste. These are very clean machines, in every sense of the word. They provide the safest, most economical and environmentally acceptable method for precision cleaning, so long as the solvents are used properly.

 • Bromothane Replaces Chlorinated and HCFC Solvents  •

In short, wherever there are demanding cleaning problems Bromothane™ fluids are the ideal choice. These are great alternatives to expensive and complex aqueous cleaning systems. They are ideal replacements for ozone-depleting solvents such as CFC-113, 1,1,1-trichloroethane and other chlorinated solvents, plus the ozone-depleting HCFC-141b and HCFC-225, as well as high-global-warming solvents such as perfluorocarbons (PFCs).

When it comes to precision cleaning, Bromothane™ really is the best of all possible worlds.

Updated: March 16,  2004
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