Process for removing water from surfaces of articles and water removing bath for use in the process

Claim 1

In a process for removing water from the surfaces of articles by immersing the articles into the bath of an apparatus having a water separating zone comprising a dewatering tank containing said bath, said bath being comprised of a water-insoluble organic liquid and a water-soluble organic solvent, separating the removed water from the bath in a water separator by virtue of the difference in specific gravity, the dewatering tank and the separator being in communication with each other through a space provided thereabove which is partly allowed to communicate with the atmosphere, condensing vapor of the bath in the channel in a cooler disposed in the channel to the atmosphere, returning the condensed bath to the water separating zone, and further separating the water separated by the water separator and containing the water-soluble solvent as dissolved therein into water and the solvent and returning the solvent to the water separating zone, the improvement wherein: (1) the bath is a mixture of trichlorotrifluoroethane and ethanol, (2) a portion of the bath separated from water by the water separator is introduced into an evaporator for evaporating the bath included in the apparatus and having an upper space communicating with the space, and (3) replenishing at least one of the dewatering tank, the water separator and the evaporator with the mixture of trichlorotrifluoroethane and ethanol having an ethanol concentration of 4.5 to 7.8 wt.%.