Environmental

Q. We are a large energy company working with algae.  It is proving tough to remove from glass and labware. We are using Liquinox detergent currently, which is good.  Anything better? Eventually we would like to move to cleaning these in our washer.

A. Algae, and the viscous oils that you are working with, require not just powerful emulsifiers….

Q: I’m looking for detergents similar to Liquinox and Citranox, that are specially formulated for cold water cleaning conditions. Can you recommend analogs to the two?

A: For most residues, the detergency of an aqueous detergent is enhanced and hastened by heat. 

Could you please recommend the best detergent and the appropriate concentration for cleaning quartz UV/Vis cuvettes?  We perform dissolution by UV/Vis on various pharmaceutical products (primarily tablets and capsules) in aqueous solutions (examples: phosphate buffers, citrate buffers, surfactants (SDS, SLS, Tween), dilute acids, etc.).

Q: We already recommend Tergazyme for many of our customers (brewery).  But do you have any recommendations for SCUBA equipment after use? Lots of salt water exposure.   Is there anything you would recommend to soak dive equipment in?

A:  If Tergazyme detergent is in play already via ease of selling/recommending to them, or if your customers have it, by all means that would be a fine choice to clean SCUBA and Buoyancy Compensator Devices, for both fresh and sea water.

Q:  What is the difference between Liquinox vs. Citranox?  We are using Liquinox for many of our applications but are having trouble with stainless steel cleaning cannulas with a small ID.  Is Citranox the answer if the residue is inorganic?

A: Although Liquinox detergent is excellent at cleaning a host of residues, Citranox cleaner is indeed the better choice if we are fairly certain this is a largely inorganic residue.