The proof of the pudding is in the eating at the new Ecocleans Test Centre
New pilot plant for the high-purity sector
The new High Purity Test Center of a leading cleaning technology provider was officially inaugurated at the end of November 2022 at the Dettingen unter Teck production site. It complements the company's 15 existing technology centers in the high-purity sector and enables cleaning tests for high-tech components with extremely high purity requirements.
Industry-specific requirements in industrial parts cleaning are subject to change and must always be considered by plant manufacturers in order to tailor their offerings accordingly. Ecoclean GmbH has focused its attention on the high-purity sector and diversified its portfolio of products and services in this regard. This includes cleaning equipment and systems specially designed for so-called high-purity cleaning applications, with which extremely high cleanliness requirements for metallic and optical components can be met in a process-safe manner. Such components are required, among others, by manufacturers of production equipment for the semiconductor industry, in precision optics, laser, measurement, analysis and high-vacuum technology.
It was therefore a logical and consistent decision to provide customers from these market segments with appropriate capacities and technologies for cleaning tests under ultra-clean conditions in the cleanroom. This was implemented with the new High Purity Test Center at the production site in Dettingen unter Teck, in which Ecoclean invested around four million euros. It was officially inaugurated at the end of November 2022.
More than an alternative to in-house trials
In the new pilot plant in Dettingen, a total of five cleaning systems with equipment specifically required for high-purity cleaning are available. They cover the technologies, media and processes used in wet-chemical component cleaning, for example ultrasonics, injection flood washing, plasma cleaning, pulsed pressure cleaning (PPC) and ultrasonic plus.
For customers who manufacture precision components for high-purity applications, the ability to conduct cleaning tests in the Ecoclean Test Center offers various advantages. For new parts, for example, elaborate process validation and cleaning tests are usually required. These would put a strain on in-house cleaning facilities, which are usually fully utilized and validated. The cleaning process and process parameters - for example, washing mechanics, chemistry, water qualities, cycle times and cleaning results - can be designed in the best possible way for the respective component, independently of any processes already in place in the company. It should also not be underestimated that the tests make it easier to estimate the required process and the cleaning result in advance, which results in risk minimization for both the customer and the plant manufacturer. In addition, tests and feasibility studies on the cleanability of new precision components can be carried out without having to intervene in validated production processes. Last but not least, customers can be supported by job cleaning if required.
Equipped for pre-cleaning and final cleaning
The new Test Center has two cleaning areas with different cleanliness classes. The first is located in a clean room, in which a solvent chamber cleaning system with integrated low-pressure plasma cleaning and a chamber system for aqueous media are integrated.
On the one hand, this area is used for pre-cleaning to prepare parts for final cleaning in the cleanroom. On the other hand, it is also suitable for meeting the higher cleanliness requirements of many classic ultra-fine cleaning tasks in sectors such as sensor technology, aviation, e-mobility and the coating industry.
The final cleaning area is much stricter, housed in a validated ISO 7 class cleanroom with ISO 6 zones. The equipment includes a solvent chamber system, a chamber system for water-based media, and a multi-bath ultrasonic cleaning system with nine wet and two dry stations. Here, various ultrasonic frequencies, cleaning chemicals, PPC, and passivation, among others, can be tested. Various options - also in combination - are also available for drying.
