The U.S. Department of Energy`s (DOE) Industrial Waste Program (IWP) has been sponsoring the research, development, and commercialization of supercritical fluid cleaning technology for replacement of traditional solvent cleaning processes. Los Alamos National Laboratory and Pacific Northwest Laboratory have been working through this collaborative effort to test the efficacy of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) cleaning. Tests were performed on a variety of substrates at various solvent conditions for a large number of common contaminants to characterize cleaning performance. Cleaning efficiencies with respect to system dynamics were also studied. Results of these tests show that supercritical and near-critical carbon dioxide is not only an effective solvent for precision cleaning applications of parts such as gyroscopes, bearing assemblies, and machine tools but is also feasible for bulk cleaning operations for a variety of industrial needs. It has been tested and shown to be effective for a range of substrates including laser optics components, computer disk drives, and cloth rags. Metals, including stainless steel, beryllium, gold, silver, copper and others; ceramics; and elastomeric seals such as Teflon, silicone, and epoxy potting compounds are highly compatible with SuperCritical CO{sub 2} (SCCO{sub 2}). Many contaminants, including silicones, Krytox, hydrocarbons, esters, fluorocarbons, gyroscope damping and fill fluids, and machining oils and lubricating oils, will dissolve in SCCO{sub 2}. In general, nonpolar, hydrophobic contaminants such as oils dissolve well, while hydrophilic contaminants such as inorganic salts do not. The parts and contaminants mentioned here are not the only applications for SCCO, cleaning, as the full range of possibilities is still being defined by developers and users of the technology. The many advantages of SCCO{sub 2} indicate that it is a technology that should carry industrial cleaning operations into the future.
