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.
At a glance
- Client
- Defense industry contractor
- Field
- Industrial Process
- Technique
- Automated cleaning, ergonomic handling, ATEX safety
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.
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
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 — Technical specifications
| 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. |
04 — Other applications
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.
An engineer from our design office replies as soon as possible.