Claims
- 1. In a non-combustion process utilizing a process fluid comprising a first fluid wherein at least some of said first fluid evaporates into the atmosphere, the improvement comprising replacing at least a portion of said first fluid with a second fluid selected from dimethyl carbonate, methyl pivalate, or a mixture thereof, thereby decreasing ozone formation from atmospheric photochemical reactions.
- 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said process fluid acts as a solvent, carrier, diluent, surface tension modifier, or any combination thereof, in said process.
- 3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said process fluid does not contain a halocarbon.
- 4. The process according to claim 1, wherein said decreasing ozone formation is based on a calculation using an OFP scale.
- 5. The process according to claim 1, wherein said decreasing ozone formation is based on a calculation using the relative MIR scale, using an ROG=3.93.
- 6. The process according to claim 1, wherein said process is a stationary industrial process.
- 7. The process according to claim 1, wherein said replacing results in at least one of the following improvements:
i) an OFP at least 10% less than the OFP of the process fluid prior to said replacing; ii) the flash point or a weighted average flash point of the process fluid increasing to above −6.1° C.; iii) an increase in toxicity level of the process fluid to at least 2000 mg/kg; iv) a measureable decrease in the formation of particulates having a diameter less than 2.5 microns produced by said process; v) a change in the evaporative rate of the process fluid into the range of 0.1 to 12 relative to normal butyl acetate; vi) a decrease in the decomposition of the process fluid based on reactions with acid catalysts present in said fluid.
- 8. The process according to claim 7, further comprising at least two of said improvements i)-vi).
- 9. The process according to claim 7, further comprising at least three of said attributes i)-vi).
- 10. The process according to claim 1, wherein said replacing results in a blend of fluids, and wherein said blend has a flash point or a weight average flash point of at least greater than 15° C.
- 11. The process according to claim 10, wherein said blend has a flash point or a weight average flash point of at least greater than 60° C.
- 12. The process according to claim 4, wherein said replacing results in a reduction in the OFP of the process fluid by at least 10%.
- 13. The process according to claim 12, wherein said reduction is at least 25%.
- 14. The process according to claim 12, wherein said reduction is at least 50%.
- 15. The process according to claim 1, wherein said process is a coating process comprising coating a substrate with a composition comprising at least one fluid which is intended to evaporate.
- 16. The process according to claim 15, providing a painted substrate.
- 17. The process according to claim 1, wherein said first fluid replaced is selected from toluene, xylenes, methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, n-pentanol, isopropyl alcohol, diacetone alcohol, sec-butanol, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, butyl acetate, isobutyl isobutyrate, isoamyl isobutyrate, propylene glycol methyl ether acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, C5-C10 linear ketones, cyclic ketones, halocarbons, methyl t-butyl ether; and mineral spirits.
- 18. The process according to claim 1, the improvement comprising replacing at least some of said first fluid with dimethyl carbonate.
- 19. The process according to claim 1, the improvement comprising replacing at least some of said first fluid with methyl pivalate.
- 20. The process according to claim 1, wherein said first fluid replaced has an evaporative rate ranging from that of MEK to that of n-butyl acetate, and after said replacing the process fluid has an evaporative rate ranging from that of MEK to that of n-butyl acetate.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/084,347, filed May 5, 1998, and 60/087,150, filed May 29,1998.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60084347 |
May 1998 |
US |
|
60087150 |
May 1998 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09288055 |
Apr 1999 |
US |
Child |
09911962 |
Jul 2001 |
US |