Alternatives to Solvent-Based Ink and Paint Stenciling for Identification Markings

摘要

Maintenance facilities and repair depots across the Department of Defense (DoD) use traditional marking methods to track and identify parts and components within their facilities. These traditional methods include stamping, silk-screening, and stenciling using conventional inks and paints that contain volatile organic compounds (VOC). VOC emissions are regulated by federal and state agencies as well as local air pollution control districts. As a result, those facilities that use products containing VOCs may need to obtain an emissions permit, monitor their emissions to ensure permit compliance, report their toxic chemical inventories to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and monitor occupational exposure levels to ensure worker health and safety. In addition, these facilities may face waste segregation and disposal restrictions. To reduce compliance and other costs and eliminate the use of VOCs, the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) and the Joint Group on Pollution Prevention (JG-PP) led a project to identify and qualify environmentally acceptable alternatives to conventional inks and paints used for identification (ID) marking. ID marking occurs over a range of critical and noncritical applications. To denote their critical level, ID-marking applications were separated into Grades A, B, and C. Grade A is the most critical application where a removed or illegible marking affects operational and safety requirements. These markings would typically be found on the exterior of a product that is expected to be used outdoors. Grade B applications should be able to withstand the typical operating environments of electronic equipment. These markings would be found in protected environments such as inside a cabinet or indoors. Grade C applications are the least critical where a removed or illegible label does not affect operation or safety requirements. These applications involve temporary ID of chassis and parts or marking of components.