Currently, cleaning of parts in both industry and the DOE complex utilize various organic solvents which are toxic, carcinogenic, and implicated in ozone depletion. The inherent properties of supercritical carbon dioxide and its demonstrated use experimentally and industrially for extraction and fractionation of many organic compounds prove it to be an attractive alternative solvent. By varying operational temperatures and pressures, solvent power of a supercritical fluid can be adjusted to achieve excellent solubilities and subsequent removal of a wide variety of commonly encountered machining fluids and organic contamination found on various components throughout industry and the DOE complex. Replacement of current solvents with carbon dioxide will result in pollution reduction and waste minimization. In addition, the combined effects of a readily recyclable cleaning solvent, reduced hydrocarbon feed-stock use, simple recovery of extracted materials, and decreased disposal and equipment costs yield a large overall net energy and cost savings.
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