What are the problems with Trichloroethylene?
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is generally used for coarse cleaning—the removal of heavy, thick oils and greases where precision and reliability of the part is not a high priority. But TCE is not suitable for precision cleaning applications. The main appeal for TCE is that they are far, far less expensive than more modern solvent choices. Traditional chlorinated solvents such as TCE are very aggressive cleaners. This means they will be incompatible with most modern elastomers and plastics. They boil at a higher temperature (which means they use a lot more energy) and must be monitored daily for acid build-up (which means higher labor costs, more complex operations, and a system that is not as resilient to errors). There is also a pervasive and lingering concern over the toxicity of many of the chlorinated solvents such as TCE, which has been classified as a suspected carcinogen for years.
