Cambridge engineers investigate propellant-free aerosols

Engineers at Cambridge-based 42T are investigating an aerosol technology that has the potential to eliminate pressurised propellants from personal and household aerosol canisters.

Conventional aerosol cans contain both a propellant and any number of products such as a deodorant or insect repellent. When a small valve on the canister is depressed, the high-pressure propellant gas forces both the propellant and small droplets of product out through a nozzle.

Many types of propellant have been used by aerosol manufacturers over the years. These include chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) and hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), as well as other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as butane.
However, as a result of concerns about their impact on the ozone layer, the use of both CFCs and HCFCs is to be totally abolished in accordance with the Montreal Protocol, leaving HFCs and VOCs as the only alternative options.