The advantages of cleaning with solvents vs. aqueous

Low surface tension (typically 25-30 dynes/cm as opposed to 72 of water), which means that the liquid can get into (and out of) geometrically complex parts, such as small diameter threaded holes or blind holes, which are consequently perfectly fluxed.

The solvents are generally suitable for a wide range of contaminants, whereas aqueous detergents on the other hand are “aimed” at a specific type of contaminant and therefore a complicated mix of detergents could be needed to obtain the results in certain washing processes.

The higher volatile degree of organic solvents means that component drying is quick and effective. The latent evaporation heat of water is indeed 2280 kj/kg whereas that of organic solvents is just 200-300 kj/kg.

By creating vacuum in the washing chamber, the boiling point is reduced and the residual heat of the components therefore enables the solvent to evaporate instantly (up to 7 cycles/h in the case of hydrocarbons/modified alcohol).