Case study · Process development & chemical pilot plants

Automating hazardous maintenance in ATEX zones: a custom industrial cleaning line

For a defense industry contractor, IRIAN Mecatronics designed and built a complete cleaning line for manufacturing tanks. The solution automates a strenuous and hazardous manual operation, ensuring operator safety and compliance within an ATEX-rated environment.

Client: Defense industry contractor
Field: Industrial Process
Technique: Automated cleaning, ergonomic handling, ATEX safety

Process development & chemical pilot plantsConfidential project · photo withheld

01 — The research question

How to automate a manual, strenuous, and hazardous maintenance operation in a high-risk environment?

Many industrial processes involve maintenance or cleaning operations that, when performed manually, expose operators to chemical hazards (solvents, toxic products) and ergonomic risks (heavy loads, awkward postures). Automating these tasks is a major challenge for productivity, safety, and repeatability. The difficulty lies in designing an integrated solution that can handle parts with various geometries and comply with a strict regulatory framework, such as that for explosive atmospheres (ATEX).

In this project, cleaning the manufacturing tanks for a sensitive product required handling heavy parts and exposing operators to solvents. No off-the-shelf solution could manage the entire cycle (disassembly, cleaning of several types of parts, reassembly) in a consistent, ergonomic, and ATEX-compliant manner. The challenge was to develop a fully custom piece of equipment, going beyond standard catalogs of process development and chemical pilot plants.

To ensure effective and repeatable mechanical and chemical cleaning of complex parts while guaranteeing absolute operator safety and strict ATEX compliance.

02 — Our approach

An integrated approach to make every cleaning step safe and reliable

Our engineering team broke down the manual operation into its elementary functions to design an integrated solution that addresses each difficulty with a dedicated station or tool. The entire system is designed to operate in an ATEX zone.

Automating the internal cleaning of the tanks

To effectively clean the entire internal surface of tanks with varying diameters without human intervention, we designed a mobile cleaning head. It combines a mechanical action adaptable to the diameter with solvent spraying, all within a contained and ventilated enclosure, guaranteeing a safe and repeatable cycle.
Eliminating strenuous handling of heavy parts

Disassembling and reassembling the bottom valve, a heavy part, created ergonomic risks. We developed a mobile, self-supported tool that bears the load and provides the necessary force. The operator supervises the operation without physical effort, reducing the risk of musculoskeletal disorders and speeding up maintenance.
Ensuring the complete cleaning of complex-shaped parts

The long, curved shape of the gooseneck pipe made manual cleaning ineffective. Our solution is a dedicated tool that travels inside the part, following its geometry. It applies both mechanical action and a solvent wash, ensuring a complete and reproducible internal cleaning with optimized product consumption.
Securing manual finishing with source-level containment

Finishing touches on small parts like the disassembled valve remained manual, exposing the operator to solvent vapors. We integrated a workstation that contains the area and captures vapors at the source. This design protects the operator's breathing zone, much like we do on our test rigs for ATEX environments.

03 — The outcome

What this equipment made possible

The solution helped increase productivity, improve workstation ergonomics, and guarantee operator safety during cleaning operations.

Does your process also require safe, repeatable cleaning?

Pharmaceutical / Biotechnology

The same approach could automate Clean-In-Place (CIP) for reactors to prevent cross-contamination. The principle of dedicated tools and ergonomic handling would remain, adapting materials (316L stainless steel) and traceability to meet GMP/FDA requirements.

Nuclear

For equipment decontamination, the principle of an automated or remote-operated system to clean complex parts and handle heavy components is directly transferable. The design would be adapted to radiological risks and effluent management.

Aeronautics

The cleaning or stripping of large parts (composite molds, tanks) benefits from automation to ensure repeatability. The adaptability of tools to different geometries and ergonomics for handling heavy equipment would remain key principles.

04 — Specifications

The values for this project. Every system is custom-built, so they adapt to your requirements.

Show specifications · Fully designed for operation in an ATEX zone. · Compatible with several models of tanks of different sizes. · Extraction speed at the ergonomic workstation compliant with INRS recommendations.

Technical specifications — Automating hazardous maintenance in ATEX zones: a custom industrial cleaning line
Environmental Compliance	Fully designed for operation in an ATEX zone.
Adaptability	Compatible with several models of tanks of different sizes.
Operator Safety	Extraction speed at the ergonomic workstation compliant with INRS recommendations.

IRIAN Mecatronics designs and builds custom high-pressure, high-temperature equipment for research laboratories, technical centres and industry.

About the company

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05 — FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can this type of cleaning line use aqueous or non-solvent-based cleaning agents?

Yes, absolutely. The solution's principle is agnostic to the cleaning agent. Using an aqueous solution or another product would change the material selection to ensure chemical compatibility (seals, piping, pump bodies) and could simplify the design if the ATEX risk is eliminated, but the principle of dedicated tools for each function would remain the same.

Is it possible to adapt this principle for much larger or smaller parts?

Yes, the approach is entirely custom. Our engineering team (mechanical, instrumentation, automation) designs the tools and workstations based on the dimensions, weight, and geometry of your parts. Whether for micro-mechanical components or multi-cubic-meter tanks, the reasoning is the same: break down the problem and design a dedicated solution for each step.

How would such a solution integrate into a pharmaceutical (GMP) production environment?

Integration into a GMP environment is a common adaptation for our process pilot plants. This would involve specific material choices (316L stainless steel, etc.), controlled surface finishes (roughness), a design with no dead legs to ensure cleanability, and the addition of full cycle traceability (parameter logging, batch reports) for regulatory compliance.

Can non-destructive testing (NDT) be integrated into the automated cleaning cycles?

Yes, this is one of the advantages of a custom solution. It is entirely possible to integrate sensors or inspection systems (vision, ultrasound, etc.) at the end of or during the cleaning cycle. The PLC can then validate the cleaning effectiveness or check the part's integrity before returning it to service, reinforcing the overall process reliability.

Looking to replace a critical manual operation with a safe, repeatable, automated process?

Describe your challenge, no matter how specific. Our in-house engineering team will analyze your project's feasibility and get back to you with a proposed approach.

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