Gaps in SCCO2
Cleaning Research

SCCO2 cleaning is still not an "off-the-shelf" technology that is well defined and understood by a large portion of manufacturers. The following are some areas in need of research:

• Case studies from successful industry implementation of SCCO2 cleaning. There is a lack of documentation on industry implementation of SCCO2 cleaning. While an earlier analysis of aqueous cleaning revealed a large number of successful industry applications, it was difficult to identify published material on SCCO2 cleaning that was more applied than laboratory or pilot-scale testing. The lessons learned from true, long-term implementation of a technology are always the most valuable to others considering applying the technology themselves.

• A better understanding of the ideal pressure and temperatures that can be used for specific contaminants. Information in the currently available literature indicates that for each contaminant-substrate combination of interest, there may be an ideal range of pressures and temperatures at which to operate a SCCO2 cleaning system to maximize cleaning efficiency while minimizing operational costs. If feasible to complete, development of a database of suggested pressure and temperature settings to use for various typical contaminant-substrate combinations would be very useful to manufacturers trying to implement SCCO2 cleaning.

• Further investigation of SCCO2 cleaning for applications that have a combination of contaminants. Many industry applications require multiple contaminants to be removed simultaneously from a part. Results from testing of these types of applications will be useful to manufacturers that have applications with multiple contaminants.

Continue on to the summary page of the SCCO2 Cleaning Technology Review.
or
Return to the introduction of the SCCO2 Cleaning Technology Review