In some variations, this invention provides an electro-mechanical device for automated cleaning validation of a selected surface. The device moves a wetted swab over a cleaned surface to recover any remaining soil left over from the cleaning process. The device accepts a standard sampling swab that has been wetted with the required liquid solution. The device maintains constant swab pressure to ensure maximum recovery of soil or contaminants. The device includes an electronic controller for adjusting the movement of parts to effectively validate cleaning of the selected surface. The surface to be validated may be a substantially flat surface, or rounded. The surface may be contained within a vessel, reactor, a pipe, tank, or other equipment. The device may be disposed on an extension arm to allow the device to be positioned appropriately, without the need for a person to be close to the device for validation.

In some variations, this invention provides an electro-mechanical device for automated cleaning validation of a selected surface. The device moves a wetted swab over a cleaned surface to recover any remaining soil left over from the cleaning process. The device accepts a standard sampling swab that has been wetted with the required liquid solution. The device maintains constant swab pressure to ensure maximum recovery of soil or contaminants. The device includes an electronic controller for adjusting the movement of parts to effectively validate cleaning of the selected surface. The surface to be validated may be a substantially flat surface, or rounded. The surface may be contained within a vessel, reactor, a pipe, tank, or other equipment. The device may be disposed on an extension arm to allow the device to be positioned appropriately, without the need for a person to be close to the device for validation.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning tank body having a body opening and a cleaning space; a lid provided to be openable and closable with respect to the body opening; a mounting stage provided in the cleaning space placing a shell of a wafer storage container; a first ejector that ejects a cleaning liquid into a storage space of the shell; a second ejector that ejects the cleaning liquid into an outer portion of the shell; a first discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid ejected into the storage space of the shell; a second discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid that has passed through the outer portion of the shell; and a particle counter that measures particles in the cleaning liquid discharged by the first discharge port.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the cleaning apparatus includes a cleaning tank body having a body opening and a cleaning space; a lid provided to be openable and closable with respect to the body opening; a mounting stage provided in the cleaning space placing a shell of a wafer storage container; a first ejector that ejects a cleaning liquid into a storage space of the shell; a second ejector that ejects the cleaning liquid into an outer portion of the shell; a first discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid ejected into the storage space of the shell; a second discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid that has passed through the outer portion of the shell; and a particle counter that measures particles in the cleaning liquid discharged by the first discharge port.

Systems, devices, and methods for passing railcar tank cleaning systems through the opening and mounted to existing manways. The invention can extend horizontally more than 25 feet and clean rail cars up to and beyond approximately 102 inches in diameter for manual, automated, or semi-automated programmable railcar tank cleaning systems, devices and methods for providing safe and efficient methods for breaking up oil, tar, chemical, radioactive, hazardous, or any other liquid, solid, or sludge waste inside rail tank cars and the like with nozzles which utilize fluid jets to break up, liquefy, and motivate tank material. The programmable railcar cleaning system can be a standalone, independent unit or integrated into new designs and/or existing systems. Simplified programming and user interface allow an operator to remotely operate the system. The various capabilities of this invention allow cleaning in a quicker and more efficient manner. The system is hydraulically controlled and can work in the presence of flammable vapors and dust.

Systems, devices, and methods for passing railcar tank cleaning systems through the opening and mounted to existing manways. The invention can extend horizontally more than 25 feet and clean rail cars up to and beyond approximately 102 inches in diameter for manual, automated, or semi-automated programmable railcar tank cleaning systems, devices and methods for providing safe and efficient methods for breaking up oil, tar, chemical, radioactive, hazardous, or any other liquid, solid, or sludge waste inside rail tank cars and the like with nozzles which utilize fluid jets to break up, liquefy, and motivate tank material. The programmable railcar cleaning system can be a standalone, independent unit or integrated into new designs and/or existing systems. Simplified programming and user interface allow an operator to remotely operate the system. The various capabilities of this invention allow cleaning in a quicker and more efficient manner. The system is hydraulically controlled and can work in the presence of flammable vapors and dust.

Various embodiments of the present technology may provide methods and apparatus for cleaning a source vessel. The source vessel may be filled or partially filled with a solvent to form a solution. The solution is removed from the source vessel and contained in a waste vessel that is connected to the source vessel. The waste vessel may have a bellow or other mechanism inside of it to create a negative pressure in the waste vessel to pull the solution out of the source vessel and into the waste vessel. Alternatively, a liquid pump may be used to pull the solution from the source vessel to the waste vessel.

Various embodiments of the present technology may provide methods and apparatus for cleaning a source vessel. The source vessel may be filled or partially filled with a solvent to form a solution. The solution is removed from the source vessel and contained in a waste vessel that is connected to the source vessel. The waste vessel may have a bellow or other mechanism inside of it to create a negative pressure in the waste vessel to pull the solution out of the source vessel and into the waste vessel. Alternatively, a liquid pump may be used to pull the solution from the source vessel to the waste vessel.

An identification system for an automated sampling device is disclosed that includes container identifiers to monitor container contaminate levels independently for each container. The containers can include caps having unique identifiers to monitor cap contaminate levels independent from container contaminate levels. The system can include one or more identifier capture devices configured to detect the container and cap identifiers and generate a data signal in response thereto. The data signal can correspond to an identity of each of the container and the cap to store in conjunction with trace elemental analysis of the fluids within the container to monitor contaminate levels of each container and cap. The container and cap identifiers can be laser-marked directly onto one or more surfaces of the container and the cap.

The invention generally relates to systems and methods for continuous or batch wise sampling of a surface for analysis of trace chemical constituents that may be present on the surface by mass spectrometry. Integration of time and place of the sampling and analysis processes allows real-time on-the-spot response to the analytical data and can take into account that material is not necessarily uniformly distributed on a surface. A further feature of the systems and methods of the invention is that the swabbing process also cleans the surface being analyzed. Accordingly, systems and methods of the invention provide an integrated approach that allows for a surface to be cleaned, sampled and analyzed in real-time, providing a faster and more efficient way to verify or validate whether a manufacturing vessel is sufficiently clean to start another production.