Advances in cleaning metal and glass surfaces to micron level cleanliness

A high pressure 6.9 MPa solvent spraying technique was developed to remove small (greater than 5 microns) contaminant particles from large (100 sq m) surface areas. Chemically polished and etched stainless steel components are solvent sprayed to achieve cleanliness levels of less than 10 particle/sq cm greater than 5 microns diameter. The high pressure and high liquid velocity cleaning technique is able to remove 99.9 percent of the 5 microns diameter particles in 5 to 10 seconds. Special Class 100 clean room procedures and equipment were developed to verify the cleanliness of the cleaned components and to ensure their remaining clean during installation and operation. The basic technique should find wide application in any field requiring precision cleaned surfaces.