3M™ Novec™ HFE Engineered Fluids and PFAS Phase Out

Plan Your Novec™ Phase Out with BestSolv™

Best Technology serves many regulated industries including medical device and aerospace, and is a subject-matter expert for surface finishing equipment and chemistries. These industries require extensive time for rigorous validation and approval of changes to manufacturing processes.

Time is of the essence with the voluntary 3M™ Novec™ discontinuation and phase out. Because of the uncertainty of 3M™ material availability, investment/lead time/supply chain of new capital equipment/technology, and cost/time involved in extensive process changes, Best Technology has laid out a 3-phase approach for now into years to come.

Immediate / Short Term Goal – A drop-in replacement for the Novec™ fluid without requiring capital equipment or major process revalidation. Most of our BestSolv™ Engineered Fluids allow for drop-in replacement in most applications. These solvents serve the following advantages:

1. Dual sourced – Since 3M™ had such a market share in the fluid industry, most companies single sourced their HFE Novec™ fluids from 3M™. BestSolv™ fluids are dual sourced from multiple countries to allow for consistent supply of the fluids. This immediately improves availability and prevents the supply-chain uncertainty of 3M™ solvents. After the 3M™ Novec™ phase out, continued use of HFE 7100 and/or HFE 7200 neat or blends (71DE, 72DE, 72DA, 73DE, 71IPA) is subject to possible supply issues since there are only a few sources in the world which produce quality HFE7100 and HFE7200; 3M™ is the biggest producer of these fluids.
2. Cost and performance – In most applications, Best Solv™ fluids perform similarly to 3M™ Novec™ fluids. Best Solv™ engineered fluids have very similar properties to 3M™ Novec™ HFE7100, HFE7200 and blends (71DE, 72DE, 72DA, 73DE, 71IPA). Comparison between fluids can be found on individual BestSolv™ pages. There are no known regulations to restrict use of these fluids in the United States. Even with similar performance, BestSolv™ fluids have significant cost advantages of up to 50%.
3. No capital equipment investment – BestSolv™ fluids are drop-in replacements, so they can be used with the equipment currently in use with 3M™ Novec™ Fluids such as vapor degreasers, immersion coolers and heat exchangers. Typical capital equipment lead times can be 12-20 weeks which pushes out the transition further without certainty of 3M™ Novec™ supply.

Medium Term Goal – Transition to next-generation chemistries with direct/drop-in replacements in current open-top degreasers. Next-generation chemistries are recent innovations in solvent technology in the last 3-5 years, but they require extensive process validation in regulated industries. Novec™ HFE technology is going on 20+ years. While Best Technology sells process manufacturing equipment (solvent vapor degreasers and aqueous systems), there are some intricate applications which can only be accomplished with molecules, surface tensions and other properties uniquely offered from engineered fluids. Some halogenated/fluorinated fluids will continue to be essential for many industries for many years to come. Based on briefings of conversations within the contacts directly involved at the EPA, there are not currently any phase-out plans.

Longer Term Goal – Advancements in aqueous / water based and solvent process equipment were already underway prior to the 3M™ announcement. The investment in new capital equipment is costly (10-15+ year ROI) and requires extensive testing and validation. Establishment of new process equipment technology for medical device and aerospace manufacturing takes time. Best Technology has developed this equipment for both solvent and aqueous based chemistries. If customers consider this time of transition an opportunity for new capital equipment change, we do have an offering of process cleaning equipment solutions.

Video: Long-Term Plan for 3M™ Novec™ Replacements

BestSolv™ Fluids – Alternatives / Replacements for 3M™ Novec™

BestSolv™ Engineered Fluids are drop-in replacements for 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluids due to 3M’s plans to phase out Novec™ chemicals by 2025. Best Technology is the exclusive distributor of BestSolv™ Solvents and Engineered Fluids.

3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluid / Solvent	BestSolv™ Drop-In Replacement Fluid*
	Exact Molecule	Similar Molecule	Next-Gen PFAS Free
3M™ Novec™ 7100	BestSolv™ 7100	BestSolv™ Sierra	BestSolv™ Zeta
3M™ Novec™ 7200	BestSolv™ 7200
3M™ Novec™ 7300	BestSolv™ 7300
3M™ Novec™ 71DA	BestSolv™ 71DA	BestSolv™ Theta	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 71DE	BestSolv™ 71DE	BestSolv™ Delta	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 71IPA	BestSolv™ 71IPA	BestSolv™ Lima	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 72DA	BestSolv™ 72DA	BestSolv™ Alpha	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 72DE	BestSolv™ 72DE	BestSolv™ Echo	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 73DE	BestSolv™ 73DE	BestSolv™ Bravo	BestSolv™ Omega
3M™ Novec™ 612	BestSolv™ Zulu-MAG
3M™ Novec™ 649	BestSolv™ Zulu
3M™ Novec™ 1230	BestSolv™ Zulu-FS
3M™ Fluorinert FC-3283		BestSolv™ 3283

*Note: Information is provided by Best Technology, not 3M™.  3M™ does not endorse or recommend any alternative material. As such, the customer is responsible for evaluation of the material’s various properties when looking at alternatives.

3M™ Novec™ Voluntary Phase Out Announcement

On December 20, 2022, 3M™ announced plans to exit per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) manufacturing, effectively discontinuing all Novec™ and Fluorinert™ products by the end of 2025.

As an authorized 3M™ Engineered Fluids distributor, Best Technology remains committed to our customers throughout this transition and continues to receive 3M™ Novec™ products while available.

This 3M™ announcement affects these products:

• 3M™ Novec™ Engineered Fluids
• 3M™ Fluorinert™ Electronic Liquids
• 3M™ Performance Fluids.

A full list of fluids can be found on page 2 of the 3M™ Novec™ replacement announcement.