Environmentally acceptable benzyl alcohol-hydrogen peroxide chemical depainting agents

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center (OC-ALC) has historically used large amounts of methylene chloride/phenol-based chemical strippers to depaint aircraft. EPA has targeted these chemical depainting agents for elimination. For years, OC-ALC engineers have been aggressively evaluating environmentally acceptable (EA) chemical strippers for replacing methylene chloride and phenol. One of the more promising is a benzyl alcohol-hydrogen peroxide two part chemical depainting agent. Recently, there have been a number of concerns. Upon mixing the benzyl alcohol-hydrogen peroxide chemical stripper, it is theorized that a targeted hazardous air pollutant (i.e., phenol) is generated, thereby violating the NESHAP (National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants) requirement. In addition, there is concern of a potential explosion hazard when mixing hydrogen peroxide. This article addresses the potential concerns by conducting both a literature search to evaluate potential problems (i.e., health concerns, explosive hazards, chemical stability, chemical reaction mechanisms/pathways, chemical reaction end- and by-products, etc.) and laboratory experiments to determine if phenol is produced as an end-product, by-product, or reaction step intermediate.