Uncompromising cleanliness for high purity applications

The vacuum impulse technique (VIT) in the new NiagaraUP system also thoroughly cleans complex geometries, undercuts, and hard-to-reach areas.

Modular expandable: separate chambers enable flexible process combinations and higher cycle performance.

New BvL system NiagaraUP for the highest purity requirements in high purity applications.

Hygienic Design: special chamber design to prevent contamination areas and with quick and complete drainage of liquids.

In the semiconductor, optics, medical, and precision engineering sectors, stable cleaning processes increasingly determine component quality, process reliability, and the dependability of subsequent manufacturing steps.

Precisely for this reason, BvL Surface Technology GmbH has developed the new NiagaraUP: a modular expandable chamber cleaning system for high-purity applications with especially high requirements for component cleanliness, process stability, and flexible process design.

The focus is on minimal carryover, a consistent hygienic design, thorough filtration, and flexible process control for different components, media, and purity targets.

Key features at a glance:

– minimal carryover and low media mixing
– Hygienic design of cleaning chamber, piping, and tanks
– consistent filtration before and during relevant cleaning steps
– freely parameterizable process control with bath monitoring and energy dashboard
– flexibly integrable procedures up to VIT, HEPA-filtered drying
– modular expandability for flexible process combinations and increased cycle performance

Minimal carryover as the key to process stability

A significant difference of the NiagaraUP lies in its consistent design focused on minimal carryover and low media mixing between tanks. For very high purity requirements, it is not enough for a process to produce good results once; it must be stable, reproducible, and economically operable over the long term.

To achieve this, the cleaning chamber has been fundamentally redesigned. The drain is centered and directed downward so that liquids can be quickly and completely drained from the chamber. A rounded, flow-optimized chamber geometry reduces dead zones, puddling, and potential particle nests.

Additional nozzles spray targeted areas of the chamber walls; the nozzle system itself can also be optionally rinsed during operation.

Hygienic design extending to piping, tanks, and filtration

For permanently stable media quality, the hygienic design has been extended to the entire media-conducting system.

All piping is welded with form gas and made of high-quality V4A stainless steel, creating clean, reproducible, and media-resistant conduits.

The tanks also follow hygienic principles: 90-degree corners have been avoided to prevent particle accumulation.

Another contribution to process stability is the consistent filtration concept: in the NiagaraUP, the medium is always passed through the filter before the cleaning processes. Filtration is also used during chamber flooding, spraying, and water drainage from the cleaning chamber. Particles are systematically removed from the process, improving bath quality, stabilizing process conditions, and supporting the highest purity requirements.

Intelligent process control and transparent consumption data

The free program flow allows for individual process design. Cleaning, rinsing, and drying steps can be flexibly combined, parameterized, and adapted to different components, contamination levels, and purity requirements.

The integrated bath monitoring with BvL's own libelle systems and automatic cleaner dosing supports consistent process conditions. This helps to achieve the required component cleanliness in a permanently reproducible manner.

The integrated energy dashboard records, visualizes, and evaluates relevant consumption data, making the plant's energy and media requirements transparent. Operators thus have a solid basis for optimizing processes regarding purity, cycle time, efficiency, and resource use.

Form follows function: consistent design down to the detail

In the NiagaraUP, the design consistently follows the principle of "form follows function": every structural decision serves process safety, operability, or the long-term stability of the cleaning result. The system was developed as a standalone concept for the highest demands.

The enclosure of the system supports the requirements for cleanliness and quality. Optionally, it can be equipped with a ViwateQ treatment to ensure surfaces in the cleanroom can be properly cleaned and particle release is avoided.

The functional design is complemented by modern LED lighting, the latest generation of industrial HMIs, and a large viewing window for the cleaning chamber. The viewing window provides the operator with a transparent view into the process.

Wide range of cleaning and drying procedures

From a process engineering perspective, the NiagaraUP is designed for maximum flexibility. It can integrate: spray cleaning, flood cleaning, pressure flooding, and ultrasonic cleaning. Additionally, the BvL pressure change method Vacuum Impulse Technology (VIT) is available, which offers advantages especially for complex geometries, undercuts, and hard-to-access component areas.

A new generation of vacuum pumps has been used for this process, specifically tested and proven together with the manufacturer for this application.

The NiagaraUP also offers a comprehensive range of drying options. Hot air drying is equipped with a HEPA H13 filter to prevent recontamination of components by particles from ambient air.

Additionally, a powerful infrared drying system can be used, enabling particularly efficient and contamination-free drying. Vacuum drying is also planned, allowing the drying process to be tailored specifically to component geometry, material, residual moisture requirements, and purity targets.

Compact, accessible, and modular expandable

A central development goal of the NiagaraUP was to combine high process engineering performance with a compact and service-friendly system layout. In the dual-tank version, the system has a compact footprint of 2.4 × 2.9 × 2.3 m (W × L × H). Filters, tanks, and pumps are directly accessible, simplifying maintenance and servicing.

The cleaning chamber can operate as a single-chamber system and be mirrored with minimal effort if needed. This creates separate chambers for pre- and final cleaning, cleaning and drying, or parallel processes to increase cycle performance. The tank units are also modular and can be variably expanded.

Automation can be easily implemented, making the NiagaraUP suitable for manual single-station solutions as well as automated production and cleaning lines.

Development expertise for ultra-pure requirements

All BvL basket washers are branded Niagara, symbolizing the power of water. For the NiagaraUP, this concept has been specifically developed further for high-purity applications. The suffix UP stands for Ultra Pure and describes the system's claim: component cleanliness at the highest level.

The system concept was developed through an interdisciplinary process involving specialists in system engineering, ultrasonic technology, filtration technology, surface treatment, cleaning chemistry, and the semiconductor manufacturing environment. Experts from the Fraunhofer Institute also contributed to its development.

Trade fair AMB

BvL will be exhibiting at the AMB trade fair in Stuttgart from September 15 to 19, 2026: Hall 5, Stand No. C84