Cleaning

Solvent and co-solvent cleaning involves the use of engineered solvents in a vapor phase system. The solvents classically used were Class 1 Ozone Depleting Substances, but new types of solvents have been developed that are less environmentally harmful. In some cases, isopropyl alcohol is used with a co-solvent. In these types of cleaning systems, a cloud of boiling vapor solvent is maintained between a boil sump and a cooling coil. When the items to be cleaned are immersed in the vapor cloud, the solvent condenses on the assemblies and acts to dissolve the residues. These processes usually involve a final rinse step outside of the vapor cloud to ensure that all dissolved residues are washed off the assemblies (Figure 1)....