Oxygen is one of the world's most widely-used industrial gasses. Oxygen is incredibly aggressive material -- it will react with almost every material on the planet. This makes cleaning oxygen systems a tricky business.

First, consider the speed with which oxygen works. In our lungs, the oxygen in the atmosphere instantly reacts with the iron in our blood to carry the oxygen to every cell in the body, where still more chemical reactions occur. Oxygen can turn a smooth piece of iron into a dirty red lump in just a few hours. It turned the Statue of Liberty green in less than a month. Oxygen is so vital to our lives we even give oxygen reactions special names: "rust" for reactions with iron, and "fire" for the very special reactions between carbon and oxygen. In small quantities, oxygen is the source of life; but when it mixes with other chemicals the devastation can be astounding. Here's an interesting film clip of an attempt to use pure liquid oxygen to kick-start the barbecue grill.

Given the usefulness of oxygen, it is not a surprise that many different types of oxygen systems are found in almost every industry, from simple welding to hospitals to airplanes and submarines. For optimal performance in these demanding applications, oxygen systems require periodic cleaning and maintenance. This is easier said than done.

There are a number of problems with cleaning and purging oxygen systems. First, oxygen systems can be quite large, with pipes winding through walls with many twists and turns.

Oxygen systems must be perfectly clean to work reliably and safely. Here Micro Care Vice President Mike Jones shows a six inch (15 cm) valve which is going into an oxygen factory in Europe and which has been cleaned with Vertrel^®.

Next, they can be complex, with many guages, pumps, filters and valves, all of which can entrap solvents. Lastly, the contamination can be very difficult to remove, especially since scrubbing mechanically usually is not possible. This is a tough cleaning environment.

The primary contaminates usually are organic, such as machining oils during a manufacturing process, or lubricating oils from compressors and pumps. During maintenance these materials need to be removed from the oxygen system. Aqueous cleaning processes and semi-aqueous cleaning systems are rarely used for these applications.

Ordinary solvents can't do the job. Most of them have at least one of four weaknesses: they are too weak to remove the contamination, they are flammable, they are slow-drying and/or they might leave residues. The fastest, most reliable and most consistent results are found by using high-performance Vertrel^® specialty fluids to clean oxygen systems.

Let's take a look at the four weaknesses of some of the possible choices:

Cleaning Strength:

Oxygen systems frequently involve valves, filters, compressors, storage tanks, pipes and hoses, and other components. It is very rare for these components to be accesible for scrubbing or manual cleaning. Therefore the solvent has to be strong enough, aggressive enough, to get the job done without any mechanical friction at all. Ordinary cleaners, like alcohols or aqueous systems, fail this test. Vertrel^® gets it done.

Flammability:

Oxygen is extremely reactive, and a fire which is fed by oxygen is hotter and more intense than a fire in open air. Because of this risk, and the catastrophic consequences of an oxygen fire, most institutions insist that any solvents or cleaners be nonflammable. Once again, Vertrel^® gets it done.

Slow-Drying:

Oxygen is often used in very pure form, which means the solvents used to clean the system must be completely purged from the system before it is restored to service. Slow-drying solvents, like aqueous systems, or terpenes or hydrocarbons, will linger inside the pipes and valves of the oxygen system. It is almost impossible to guarantee that all the remains of a slow-drying solvent have been pulled from the system, even if it is heated or a vacuum is used. Meanwhile, because Vertrel^® evaporates briskly, it is ideal for this application.

Residues:

The reactive nature of oxygen eliminates other possible choices because they use surfactants and/or saponifiers, or other non-volatile residues. it is impossible to guarantee that these residues will not be trapped inside the oxygen system. They simply are unsuited for this demanding application. Residue-free Vertrel^® avoids this problem completely.

Powerful, fast-drying, residue-free Vertrel^® answers all of these issues. The Vertrel^® products are very dense, so they lift away inorganic contamination and dissolve organic grease, oils and more. The Vertrel^® cleaners also have a much lower surface tension than water and they evaporate quickly, easily, even from deep inside oxygen systems.

Cleaning oxygen systems with Vertrel^® is simple, fast and very cost-effective. When quality counts, select Vertrel^®!

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