VOC Reduction: Solvent Cleaning and Paint Stripping

New and anticipated environmental regulations mandate development of processes that will reduce air emissions of smog forming volatile organic compounds or VOC's. Current processes responsible for producing quantities of VOC's include chemical paint stripping and manual solvent cleaning. Chemicals used in these processes also generate hazardous waste and expose workers to toxics. This presentation will outline some of the work being done at Boeing Commercial Airplane Group to address these problems: 1) evaluation of alternatives to high vapor pressure solvents for manual cleaning prior to painting and sealing, and 2) use of plastic media blasting to remove paint.