The Avd"* Process: Vapor Degreasing without Chlorinated Solvents

A few years ago, the first semi-aqueous circuit board defluxing composition was developed and introduced by Petroferm. Since that time, several other semiaqueous products have appeared, and semi-aqueous cleaning is now considered one of the leading choices for replacing ozone-depleting CFCs. Now, an advanced vapor degreasing process has been developed which offers the ease of use, fast drying, and excellent cleaning performance of conventional vapor degreasing, but which does so without ozone-depleting solvents. This paper describes the fundamentals of this new (patents pending) AVD cleaning technology, and outlines its advantages and disadvantages relative to existing CFC solvent alternatives. Given its potential to provide customers with non-ozone-depleting, nontoxic chemical compositions which offer excellent cleaning characteristics together with competitive economics, and the opportunity to continue to use a vapor degreasing process, AVD technology should rapidly attain a leading position among post-CFC cleaning alternatives. Trademark of Petroferm Inc. *