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Aqueous Cleaning and Validation for Space Shuttle Propulsion Hardware at the White Sands Test FacilityThe NASA White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) has developed an entirely aqueous final cleaning and verification process to replace the current chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) 113 based process. This process has been accepted for final cleaning and cleanliness verification of WSTF ground support equipment. The aqueous process relies on ultrapure water at 50 C (323 K) and ultrasonic agitation for removal of organic compounds and particulate. The cleanliness is verified bv determining the total organic carbon (TOC) content and filtration with particulate counting. The effectiveness of the aqueous methods for detecting hydrocarbon contamination and particulate was compared to the accepted CFC 113 sampling procedures. Testing with known contaminants, such as hydraulic fluid and cutting and lubricating oils, to establish a correlation between aqueous TOC and CFC 113 nonvolatile residue (NVR) was performed. Particulate sampling on cleaned batches of hardware that were randomly separated and sampled by the two methods was performed. This paper presents the approach and results, and discusses the issues in establishing the equivalence of aqueous sampling to CFC 113 sampling, while describing the approach for implementing aqueous techniques on Space Shuttle Propulsion hardware.
Document ID
19990075864
Acquisition Source
White Sands Test Facility
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Hornung, Steven D.
(Allied-Signal Technical Services Corp. Las Cruces, NM United States)
Biesinger, Paul
(Allied-Signal Technical Services Corp. Las Cruces, NM United States)
Kirsch, Mike
(NASA White Sands Test Facility NM United States)
Beeson, Harold
(NASA White Sands Test Facility NM United States)
Leuders, Kathy
(NASA White Sands Test Facility NM United States)
Date Acquired
August 19, 2013
Publication Date
April 1, 1999
Publication Information
Publication: Third Aerospace Environmental Technology Conference
Subject Category
Engineering (General)
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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