Maximum Safety in Battery Production: First Certified Energy Chain for the Dry Cleanroom

STAMFORD, CT, UNITED STATES / AGILITYPR.NEWS / April 26, 2023 / E6.29 from igus receives innovative dry cleanroom certificate

Whenever the highest hygiene standards are required, igus^® scores high with dry-running and abrasion-resistant plastic components for movement. In particular, battery production for tomorrow's mobility requires special environmental conditions, which are achieved through the combination of dry rooms and cleanrooms. The Fraunhofer IPA has developed a new type of certificate for precisely these requirements. The E6.29 e-chain^® from igus is the very first cable carrier system that has been tested under dry cleanroom conditions and has now been certified with ISO Class 4.

Lithium-ion batteries are a vital technology of our time that has undergone significant advances in recent years. This is due to the fact that the market for electric cars is growing as the battery system is essential for electromobility. To ensure error-free production and long battery life, the production process must be continuously optimized. As a result of the increasing number of plants and automation of the systems, the need for reliable cable guide systems is also growing.

"The quality requirements are constantly increasing - on the part of both customers and test standards. For this reason, we've been working with the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA since 1997, where our energy chains are examined in standardized motion sequences. This allows us to make a clear statement about the cleanliness class of our energy chains," explains Kira Weller, Product Manager for e-chains at igus. "Our E6.29 energy chain, which has been tried and tested for many years, is now the very first cable guide system ever to receive a new type of IPA certificate for the ISO cleanroom classification under dry-room conditions."

Unique combination of dryness and freedom from particles

In collaboration with the Cellforce Group, the Fraunhofer IPA has developed a mobile dry cleanroom tent called DryClean-CAPE. This innovative solution offers a more flexible and affordable alternative to traditional stationary cleanrooms. DryClean-CAPE ensures optimal conditions for various manufacturing processes by creating an ultra-clean, low-humidity production environment. The tent-like cleanroom system is made up of two distinct covers, each with its own air treatment unit. This design allows for independent control of dryness and particle-free conditions, resulting in a highly flexible production environment.

E6.29 achieves the best possible test result

For this reason, the IPA has also developed a new type of certificate for the ISO cleanroom classification under dry-room conditions. The E6.29 from igus was the first energy chain to pass this test and achieved the best possible result in the tent-like cleanroom: ISO Class 4 – making igus one of the pioneers in this field.

The durable e-chain made of high-performance plastics with optimized friction and wear properties is available directly from stock as a standard catalog component with various inner heights, widths, and radii. The e-chain was tested at -40°F (-40°C) dew point, corresponding to <1% relative humidity at 68°F (22°C), in an ISO Class 3 cleanroom. The E6.29 is, therefore, now also suitable for safe use in dry-room applications. An endurance test of the E6 scalable crossbars is also being carried out in a dry room in the in-house igus test laboratory. They have undergone 10 million double cycles, and the tests are still ongoing.