Amines in steam humidification systems

Congratulations to Scott Williams for a thorough and helpful report.

A point to bear in mind is that DEAE "bloom" is more likely to be
observed on the dark surfaces of older paintings than on other
materials that are commonly exposed without glazing.

It would be useful to extend Scott's research into the effect of
amines and other commonly used boiler chemicals on these materials
(such as proteinaceous textiles and ethnographic materials),
particularly since they may not be washable.

It would be particularly nice to know if there is a chemical
reaction that could be used to provide a color indicator of the
presence of DEAE for initial swab testing, and to allow you to know
when you have finished rinsing without having to run spectra over
and over.

In partial answer to Scott's query, I have been told by maintenance
engineers that DEAE is favored because its high water solubility
allows it to travel the ducts along with the steam-humidified air,
protecting them as well. There are non-amine boiler protectants now
in use, but I can't remember what they are.

Lisa Mibach
Heritage Resource Management


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 14:44
               Distributed: Wednesday, February 14, 2001
                       Message Id: cdl-14-44-003
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