The Results of Bringing a New Benzyl Alcohol Paint Stripper to the Aviation Market

The method of chemical paint removal from aircraft will change drastically over the next 2-3 years. In fact, the change is already beginning. Use of methylene chloride and phenol based strippers will be prohibited by various federal government, state government, district and local regulations. In many locations, its use has already been disallowed.

This paper presents the results of a multi-month development effort undertaken by an established automotive specialty chemical company to bring a new benzyl alcohol-based paint stripper to the aircraft industry. In particular, this paper describes:

• The mechanism of benzyl alcohol paint removal
• How the product was developed
• The results of initial laboratory testing
• OEM certification requirements and results
• User requirements and stripping trial results
• Corrosion and other independent test lab results
• The response of various paint (coating) systems

Finally, the paper presents an automotive perspective (the outsider) of the aircraft paint stripping world and lessons learned during this aerospace initiative.