31st Symposium Industrial Component Cleaning 2023

Solutions and know-how for current and future requirements in component cleaning: The 31st Industrial Component Cleaning Conference presents innovative solutions, know-how and best practice applications as well as insights into research and development.

The technology and energy turnaround requires companies from all sectors of the manufacturing industry to adapt their processes. This also affects the quality-critical step of component cleaning. In order to meet current and future requirements for the technical cleanliness of components in a stable, efficient and sustainable manner, the 31st Industrial Parts Cleaning Conference will present innovative solutions, know-how and best practice applications, as well as insights into research and development,. The event of the Fachverband industrielle Teilereinigung e. V. (FiT) will be held on June 22 and 23, 2023 at the Neckar Forum Esslingen.

The technological transformation, energy turnaround, higher demands on resource efficiency and the shortage of skilled workers are changing the processes of parts manufacturing in virtually all industrial sectors. This also results in new requirements for industrial component cleaning, which is becoming increasingly important as a quality-critical step in the production chain. Current and future demands on technical cleanliness require more than ever task-specific cleaning solutions that ensure stable, sustainable and cost-efficient processes.

The 31st FiT conference on industrial component cleaning, which will be held by fairXperts on June 22 and 23, 2023, with an accompanying exhibition at the Neckar Forum Esslingen, will focus on what is important in this regard. The event, which is established as a knowledge platform in the German-speaking region, will provide information on basic principles, new process engineering solutions and products, state-of-the-art methods for process control, research and development trends, and best-practice applications.

The two-day event will kick off with a presentation on the new FiT guideline "Process Solutions for Industrial Component Cleaning", which will provide concrete action aids for drafting, designing, laying out and optimizing customized cleaning processes through bundled expert knowledge. The following two presentations will provide information on potential savings in chemicals and energy through the clever combination of cleaning, corrosion protection and packaging, as well as what a requirement of "particle sizes < 400 µm means for cleaning in production". It will be presented what is feasible and to be considered in a "normal" manufacturing environment and where the limits are.

The next session will address the issue of "Solvents - better their reputation," the demands on surfactant chemistry when using new cleaning processes such as cyclic nucleation (CnP) and pulsed pressure cleaning (PPC), and the introduction of a new multi-chamber ultrasonic cleaning system into manufacturing. Other presentations will cover developments and trends in industrial parts cleaning using laser technology, the possibilities and limitations of UV black light inspection for identifying fluorescent particles and organic stains before and after cleaning, and the challenges and approach to high purity cleaning tasks. The first day will be concluded by the expert forum "Process Chain Parts Cleaning", with a discussion on current topics in parts cleaning involving all participants.

The two thematic blocks of the second day will focus on research and development for component cleaning of the future. In the first session, a compact, robot-guided laser scanner for fluorescence imaging will be presented for meaningful cleanliness testing on large surfaces and geometrically complex components. Chemical surface analysis for process development and quality assurance in component cleaning will also be addressed, as well as a standard developed on the basis of an industry-specific OPC UA Companion Specification for the digitalization of the component cleaning process chain. Information will also be provided on the process and product-driven requirements for the technical cleanliness of bipolar plates for fuel points. The second block of topics will begin with a presentation on the specification and design of packaging for technically clean components. Also presented will be self-organizing fluorescent polymer coating systems that mimic real fouling, as well as a geometry-independent coating process for reproducible coatings. This allows scientifically based cleaning investigations with fluorescence-based residual fouling detection as well as optimization of systems. The other contributions deal with the advantages of the laser as a tool for cleaning and structuring and an adaptation of the vacuum suction jet process for the partial cleaning of sensitive surfaces.

An accompanying exhibition rounds off the program. It offers participants the opportunity to find out about new products and developments in the field of industrial cleaning technology and for a direct exchange of experience with experts. The conference is aimed at specialists and managers, engineers and technicians from development and design, technology, process engineering, work preparation, production, production planning and quality assurance from various industries. (OM-1/23)