• Eliminated use of hazardous cleaning solutions
• Reduced labor requirements
• Reduced raw material costs and hazardous waste disposal costs
• Improved occupational environment

Background

The Dover Air Force Base is home to the 436th Airlift Wing and the 512th Airlift Wing (Reserve), employing over 7,900 military, civilian and reservist personnel. The base provides strategic global airlift capability for worldwide support of contingency and emergency war plans, as well as a wide range of airlift support on a daily basis to operations around the globe. The base is the largest aerial port facility on the East Coast and the focal point for cargo and passenger movement to Europe and the Middle East. Because of this, the base also accommodates a significant number of transient aircraft in addition to its standing fleet.

Throughout the base, a variety of shops maintain and repair aircraft parts and components. One such shop is the Propulsion Flight Accessories (PFA) Shop, which maintains and cleans jet engine accessories and modules. In 1992, the PFA Shop cleaned parts larger than 5 feet long by hand with halogenated solvents on wash racks outside the shop buildings: dirt, metals, oils and excess solvent were washed down an open drain. Smaller parts were cleaned by submersion in various vats of caustic and hazardous chemicals: cold and hot strippers, descalers, carbon removers, sodium hydroxide.

Five employees, 4 civilian and 1 military supervisor, operated and maintained nine 800-gallon vats in two washer rooms. Each of the vats was emptied two or three times a year depending on the volume of work, and the contents disposed of as hazardous waste. Wanting to eliminate its reliance on hazardous chemicals, in April 1992 the PFA Shop decided to invest in an automated jet parts washer as an alternative cleaning method.

Improvements

Extensive research on the part of PFA Shop staff included visiting Boeing Helicopter in Philadelphia, PA for a briefing and demonstration of their self-contained, automated wash unit. After putting the job out for bid, the shop received two jet parts washers in February 1993. The two units cost $194,000 and were purchased with available federal Superfund monies. Approximately $25,000 in additional funds was spent on reconditioning the rooms (one of which was converted to a new MOD room), installing the washers and building an access platform. The new washer room became fully operational in May 1995.

The two new washers are capable of cleaning all types of parts and components in 30 minutes to an hour. One unit can handle parts up to 5 feet tall, the second unit can handle those up to 10 feet tall. Entirely self-contained, the units recycle and reuse all washwater; In addition, the units are capable of removing oil, grease and metal fines from the washwater, extending the life of the cleaner and the water.

Savings/Other Benefits

The jet parts washers offer a variety of environmental, economic and safety benefits. Since the washers use a biodegradable cleaner, the shop no longer relies on caustic, hazardous cleaning solutions like sodium hydroxide or hot strippers to clean its parts. The new biodegradable cleaner is cheaper than the chemicals it replaced and lasts longer. The new system has eliminated toxic vapors and fumes, chemical spills and splashes, improving safety for employees and the natural environment. Because the parts washers recycle and reuse all of the washwater, water usage in the shop has also dropped considerably.

The unit has also dramatically reduced labor requirements and improved efficiency. Since the washers only require one operator, washer room staff has declined from 5 employees to 1, freeing those individuals for other tasks on the base. Cleaning time is drastically reduced: what used to take several hours now takes less than one.

This project is only one of many that the base is undertaking to improve its environmental performance. As a federal facility, Dover Air Force Base is subject to EPA's Federal Facilities Multimedia Enforcement/Compliance Initiative. This initiative seeks to improve Federal agency compliance and reduce environmental risks from Federal facilities through increased use of multimedia inspections; efficient use of all available enforcement authorities; and enhanced use of innovative pollution prevention approaches to solving compliance problems.