Really
Useful Military Solvent Substitution Program
Barbara Kanegsberg
A new military-based effort continues to show great promise in demonstrating
and documenting effective, safer, and environmentally-preferred cleaning
options (a highly-desirable and long-sought after combination).
I participated in a mid-September meeting of the working group in Richmond,
VA. I am happy to tell you that the group continues to be productive and
to make steady, impressive progress in testing, documentation, and communication.
The Joint Service Solvent Substitution Working Group (JS3WG) includes all branches
of the military as well as NASA. This represents an ambitious, perhaps
monumental, project.
You stand a good chance to benefit from this effort if you are:
A components or parts manufacturer
A supplier or producer of cleaning agents or cleaning equipment
In a branch of the military or associated with the military
The JS3WG includes individuals from various branches of the services, including chemists, engineers, and those involved in assuring that appropriate, required supplies reach their destination promptly. The JS3WG is looking to identify, test, and document cleaning agents with low or no HAP’s and low or no VOC’s, and then to document the results. Oh, and by the way, the product must perform acceptably for the intended application (a groundbreaking concept). The program is expected to provide more complete information with less duplication of effort.
Further, the group is not looking to do a demonstration project as an end in
itself but instead to provide practical options that can actually be used.
Indicating requirements for cleaning agents relative to product end-use
requirements will help not only those in various branches of the service,
it should also help those vendors or suppliers to fine-tune their product
line. Parts and components manufacturers may be able to extrapolate results
from military studies and apply those results to their own applications.
We live in an age of information overload; and important information can too-readily
be lost be lost. To assure accessibility of information, the group expended
a great deal effort of up front in designing an appropriate website and
database. The JS3 Database is just beginning to be populated with data;
a quick tour already indicates that will be very useful. You can visit
the website at:
You may want to visit the website from time to time in the months ahead.
