FiT2clean Award 2023: Innovations for industrial component cleaning

The FiT2clean Award of the Fachverband industrielle Teilereinigung e. V. (FiT) was presented for the second time in 2023. It honors outstanding achievements and solutions for industrial parts cleaning. The three finalists presented their developments at Parts2clean.

The FiT2clean Award was presented for the second time in 2023 by the Fachverband industrielle Teilereinigung e. V. (FiT). It honors outstanding achievements and solutions for industrial component cleaning. Among the three finalists who presented their solutions on the third day of this year's parts2clean, Intelligent Fluids GmbH secured first place with the development of innovative, environmentally compatible phase fluids that can replace classic solvents in numerous cleaning applications.

In more and more industries, component cleaning is not only a manufacturing step that contributes decisively to product quality, but also to resource efficiency and the implementation of new products, and thus to maintaining competitiveness. This requires innovative developments in industrial cleaning technology. "With the FiT2clean Award, which was established in 2022 and is presented annually, the Industrial Parts Cleaning Association recognizes outstanding achievements and solutions and aims to drive innovations for industrial parts cleaning," reports Dr. Michael Flämmich, Chairman of the Board of FiT. In 2023, a total of twelve companies applied for the Innovation Award with new and further developments. "The consistently exciting and forward-looking developments did not make it easy for the expert jury, made up of people from science, research, industry and the media, to select the three finalists," adds Michael Flämmich. They presented their solutions on the third day of this year's parts2clean (September 28, 2023).

The FiT2clean Award, worth 10,000 euros and one year's free membership in the trade association, was won by Intelligent Fluids GmbH with a concept of phase fluids to replace classic solvents in a wide range of industrial cleaning applications. The fluids consist of the main components water, oil, surfactants and activators. Instead of chemical dissolution of contaminants, the removal of contaminants is thus achieved by physical lift-off effects. These new cleaning media are not only highly effective, but also enable significant savings in operating costs.

Second place went to Sphera Technology GmbH with an innovative solution for controlling technical cleanliness in the micro and nano range. The basis of the innovation is the combination of a standardized test body with smooth surfaces, incorporated steps, cooling fins, through and blind holes as well as threads with high-precision test particles in fixed predetermined sizes (e.g. 0.5 μm, 1 μm, 5 μm, 10 μm) and corresponding coding with UV-active inks. They are applied to the test specimen in a specially developed process. In the next step, the test specimen goes through the respective applied steps of cleaning process, handling, storage, etc. Subsequently, the surface geometry is resolved or the adjacent production surfaces are evaluated. For the first time, it is also possible to evaluate the cleaning process quantitatively, whereby emphasis was placed on fast, simple and cost-effective analysis methods.

Third place went to Fronius International GmbH for the development of a hot-active plasma system that is used, among other things, for partial cleaning of the welding surfaces of ground studs. For this purpose, the arc plasma is formed into a flame by means of a protective gas flow, which reaches temperatures of up to 1000 °C in the core. Thermal and chemical processes triggered by this ensure that material surfaces are partially and precisely freed from organic residues and filmic contamination. At the same time, the surface is activated. Since the arc is created between the plasma nozzle and the tungsten electrode of the torch, a ground connection to the workpiece is not required. Accordingly, non-metallic materials can also be cleaned with hot active plasma.

"With these and all the innovations submitted, the suppliers of industrial cleaning technology have tapped into great optimization potential for current challenges in component cleaning," notes Michael Flämmich. "This already makes us very curious about the submissions for the FiT2clan Award 2024." The trade association's innovation award will again be presented next year during parts2clean, which will be held September 24-26, 2024, at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Center. (OM-10/23)