[AR] Re: Removing Coking Deposits

  • From: Peter Fairbrother <zenadsl6186@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: arocket@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2016 16:35:20 +0100

On 18/09/16 03:24, Norman Yarvin wrote:

Note that "trike" was commonly 1,1,1-trichloroethane, until it got
banned for depleting the ozone layer.

It isn't actually banned per se; just manufacturing it, using it for most purposes, and selling it in most cases are banned.

That stuff was relatively safe;
indeed, it's safety (non-reactivity) was likely also why it lasted
long enough to reach the ozone layer.

Except that it doesn't really reach the ozone layer, at least not in significant quantities - unfortunately it is still listed as a class 1 ozone depleting substance, even though it is now known not to be one.

More, it's atmospheric life is only about 6 years. Continued small-scale use would have no detectable effect on the ozone layer, but this is not allowed.

Problem is, there is no satisfactory mechanism in the Montreal Protocol to delist it (or the much nastier carbon tetrachloride).

1,1,1-trichloroethane is not carcinogenic either, though all bets are off if you smoke near it.


Trichloroethylene is more
reactive, more dangerous, and still available.

Yep.

While the Montreal Protocol is undoubtedly a good, even essential, thing overall, just don't expect consistently good (or even sensible) science from politicians.

BTW it was ozone layer preservation day on Friday.

Wishing you all a belated

Happy International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer!


-- Peter Fairbrother


On Sat, Sep 17, 2016 at 12:00:15PM -0700, Randall Clague wrote:
Hm. I once used three spray cans of trichloroethylene to clean a mimeograph
machine (it hadn't been cleaned since it left Vietnam) and people kept
shutting the closet door. I didn't know about the cancer risk, but it
wouldn't have mattered, we all expected to die young anyway.

I don't suppose a single dose will have any effect. Still, good to know.
Thanks.

-R

On Saturday, September 17, 2016, Uwe Klein <uwe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Am 17.09.2016 um 02:41 schrieb Rick Dickinson:

I used to love "trike" for de-fluxing solder joints. It worked extremely
well, in small quantities. The stuff that's available now is nowhere
near as effective, and you end up using three or four times as much.


The Institute I worked for as a contractor had  a rush of lung cancer
cases in the 90ties.
Seemingly all the workshop technicians that
1: were heavy smokers and
2: used solvents freely to clean experiment
         ( mechanic, electronic)  components
3: invariably 1 and 2 together :-)

Organic solvents processed via low temp burning are really perfect in that
respect. InstaCancer.

Uwe







Other related posts: