Working Group 2: Replacement Technologies
Who we are & what we do IAEG Working Group 2, Replacement Technologies, works hard to ensure future alternatives in light of current or upcoming substance bans and limits rising out of environmental laws.
Projects are suggested by member companies based on need, and if it has enough supporters, a data sharing collaboration activity is performed under a collaboration agreement in order to explore what project member companies use it for, and if they have any alternatives identified. This sharing of data better benefits member companies, and as a result the industry, allowing use of this information without needing to duplicate exploration studies performed by other members.
If no viable alternatives are identified, then a technical exchange project can evolve into a research and development project. Through joint contribution of participating members, research is completed identifying affected components and required uses, and alternatives meeting industry requirements are then explored and tested.
Current active projects include: cadmium replacement on industry standard parts, hard chrome plating, bond primers, corrosion inhibiting epoxy primers, chemical conversion coating, and anodize seal. Below we’ll explore a little of what some of the project’s aims are, and their most recent progress.
Active Projects Cadmium Plating Objective: Demonstrate the availability of alternatives to cadmium plated industry standard parts to suppliers and users.
Level: Research and development.
Recent update: The team is currently engaging with standard bodies for the Aerospace industry that are responsible for design of relevant parts and suppliers of standard parts to understand what work has been done to date in this area. Hard Chrome Plating Objective: To produce hard chrome plating (HCP), chromic acid is used in the plating process, which is carcinogenic and heavily regulated by different regulations in countries worldwide. This projects investigates replacements to HCP which are not using hexavalent chromium.
Level: Technology Exchange.
Recent update: In the first part we focused on these existing technologies and put together the available data from all project members to come to a mapping where which replacement technology could be used. The report on this part is in work and should be available soon to the project members. In the second part we are looking for upcoming technologies (not yet industrialized) which are more close to a one-to-one replacement or show significant other advantages (e.g. less health and safety concerns, less cost). For this second part we have started the data collection. Corrosion inhibiting epoxy primers Objective: Joint approach to facilitate the identification of suitable alternatives to Chromate based corrosion inhibiting epoxy primers. These primers must protect metallic substrates against oxidation and/or galvanic corrosion under a wide range of operating and environmental and climatic exposure conditions. Due to chromates’ unique leaching and healing abilities, the industry has been struggling to find equivalent replacements with similar or superior corrosion inhibiting properties. This project seeks to map identified applications and their key requirements and develop a description of potential alternatives.
Level: Technology Exchange.
Recent update: Current ongoing tasks include collection of data for requirements gap analysis, of replacement candidate coating information, and of data from vendors. Chemical Conversion Coating Objective: To share participants' performance tests results of non-chromated Chemical Conversion Coating solutions available on the market.
Level: Technology Exchange.
Recent update: The best practices for the application process of the best performing products were shared, not only within the participants, but also with the manufacturers of those products. This way all the participants could benefit from very good technical exchange sessions, during which they could have some interesting discussions with the suppliers' technical staff. Each participating company now has more information to make their choice for a non-chromated Chemical Conversion Coating solution. Bond Primers Objective: Bond primer contain chromates for corrosion protection. At present, there are a number of alternatives but no direct replacement available. This project aims to find a suitable substitute given a number of considerations.
Level: Technology Exchange.
Recent update: Data is being aggregated on key applications and requirements, and candidates for replacements and their status. Anodize Seal Project Objective: Chromate applications in aerospace industry need replacement by environmentally- compliant alternatives. Joint approach to facilitate the identification of suitable alternatives to chromated Anodize Seals is needed. Anodize Seals are used to enhance corrosion protection while not affecting paint and sealant adhesion properties. This project will consist of a performance screening exercise of non-hex-chrome sealing solutions used for anodized aluminum, with and without paint coatings (chromated and non-chromated), either developed by the project members or proposed by the major suppliers identified by the project members.
Level: Technology Exchange.
Recent update: The Anodize Seal Project held their first meeting in July, and will begin discussing process requirements during their subsequent meetings.
Thanks for reading! To follow future WG2 updates, watch out for updates in this newsletter, or further press releases or publications from our projects.
For more information, contact WG2 Lead Jennifer Branton, at [email protected].