The Removal of Silicone Contaminants from Spacecraft Hardware
Abstract
Silicone compounds are found in a wide variety of aerospace applications and are thus frequently encountered in ground processing accidents. Silicones are largely inert with respect to many chemical reactions, which make them highly desirable as sealants, adhesives, and vacuum pumping fluids. However, this same property makes them difficult to remove. In the course of several major accidents in the last five years, many cleaning approaches have been used. The most common approach has been the use of isopropyl alcohol (IPA). In this report, we test the solubility of various silicone products in an array of organic solvents and two commercial cleaning agents. The solubility was evaluated by visually assessing the turbidity of the solution. Good solubility is observed for most silicones in hexane, heptane, and toluene. Only modest solubility was observed for the commercial cleaners. Initially, silicones were found to be insoluble in IPA. However, with extended time of up to 20 min, or slightly elevated temperature, silicones were seen to eventually dissolve in IPA. Thus, IPA could be an effective remover of silicones if the contaminated part can be immersed in an IPA bath. Silicone removal using CO sub 2 jet spray is also discussed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 20, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA410311
Entities
People
- D. J. Coleman
- K. Luey
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation