DoD Sustainable Products Center

“Products designed to prevent the deterioration (corrosion) of metals.”

“Products that are designed to clean and remove grease, oil, dirt, stains, soils, and rust from metal surfaces. Products that are designed to remove rust from metal surfaces through chemical action.”

The BioPreferred Program established a minimum biobased content of 53 percent for corrosion preventatives and 71 percent for corrosion removers.

Before these biobased products are utilized by the Military Departments and DoD Components, their performance must be proven to meet DoD requirements.

Demonstration Products*

Products demonstrated are listed in Table 1

Table 1: Demonstration Products

Manufacturer	Product
Renewable Lubricants, Inc	Bio Penetrating Lubricant (BPL) Bio Blast Penetrant
Cortec Corporation	EcoAir Biobased CLP EcoAir 422 Non-Toxic Rust Remover Ecoline 3220 BioCorr Rust Preventative, Green 3690 Open Air Corrosion Inhibitor
ZeRust	Axxanol 46-Bio

* Mention of or referral to commercial products, services, and manufacturers herein is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by, nor the official policy or position of, the Department of Defense (DoD), any of its Components, or the U.S. Government.

Demonstration Sites

• Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD)
• Naval Air Station Corpus Christi (NASCC)
• AMCOM Theater Equipment Package (TEP) Facility, Redstone Arsenal
• U.S. Navy Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRC-SE)

Demonstration Details

Corrosion inhibitors are applied to metal surfaces of equipment, parts, fixtures, and weapons systems as a preservative to prevent corrosion or deterioration. Rust removers are applied to metal surfaces to remove rust. Corrosion inhibitors used by the DoD generally contain petroleum or wax compounds, volatile solvents, and organic or inorganic corrosion inhibiting compounds and are typically not biodegradable. These corrosion inhibitors are often difficult to remove, may interfere with the use of the associated part or system, contain hazardous materials, and can drip, resulting in potential ground and water contamination. Rust removers used by the DoD often present higher hazards than biobased alternatives. Biobased corrosion inhibitors and rust removers have potential performance and Environmental, Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) advantages over petroleum-based corrosion inhibitors and traditional rust removers. Biobased corrosion inhibitors are typically non-toxic and many are biodegradable and contain little or no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Biobased rust removers present a lower hazards profile compared to traditional products, with most being non-toxic and biodegradable.

A biobased corrosion inhibitor and rust remover demonstration plan was developed to outline the demonstration activities to be performed, identify site performance requirements and the key performance criteria, as well as select the products to be evaluated. Demonstration sites were provided a supply of the biobased inhibitors / rust removers for use in their operations and asked to provide feedback on the product performance. Table 2 contains the key performance criteria that the DoD stakeholders established to evaluate and validate that the biobased RBC product met the participants’ requirements. The demonstration sites are currently evaluating the performance of the biobased corrosion inhibitor / rust remover products and are providing feedback on product performance.

Table 2: Demonstration Performance Criteria

Criteria	Parameters
Corrosion Mitigation Efficiency (corrosion inhibitors)	Oxidation assessment Quantity of corrosion inhibitor product used
Cleaning Efficiency (rust removers)	Cleaning time Quantity of rust remover products used
Ease of Use (corrosion inhibitors)	Ease of application
Ease of Use (rust remover)	Ease of application Overall cleaning effort
User Safety/Friendliness (corrosion inhibitors and rust removers)	Odor Eye irritation Respiratory irritation Skin irritation