Our automated ultrasonic stainless steel cleaning / washing and passivation systems (nitric or citric acid) are well accepted for medical device electropolishing. The fully automated ultrasonic passivation equipment performs cleaning-rinsing-passivation-rinsing-drying by moving the fluids from heated storage tanks into a single ultrasonic process tank, rather than moving the parts basket through a series of tanks.
The entire process required to clean, rinse, passivate, rinse, final rinse and dry stainless steel metal parts is performed at the push of a button with user defined cycles of time, temperature, etc via touch panel screen driven by a PLC. The PLC computer-controlled fill-and-drain sequence to cycles parts through the cleaning, rinsing, passivating, rinsing and hot air drying processes; all within a single chambered unit.
Medical Device Automated Stainless Steel Part Passivation Systems

Modular heated storage tanks allow for re-use of detergents, passivation acid and rinse water. This closed loop system configuration removes operator interaction, variability and eliminates exposure to alkaline cleaning and passivation acid chemicals. The end result is higher quality cleaned and passivated parts with tighter process controls which can be easily validated for regulated products like medical devices. The operator simply puts dirty, dry parts in, hits start and returns to cleaned, passivated and dry parts.
Tabletop / Benchtop Medical Device Automated Passivation Systems
We move the fluids NOT the parts! This results in Savings of nearly 50% of system cost over traditional multiple processing tanks with overhead basket carrier automation.
Common Applications for Automated Stainless Steel Passivation Systems
- Medical device stainless steel, titanium, tantalum parts cleaning
- Medical device guidewire cleaning and passivation
- Nitric acid passivation type 2, 3, 4 ASTM A967 without sodium dichromate
- Citric acid passivation type 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 ASTM A967 using Stellar Solutions’ Citrisurf®
- Ultrasonic part cleaning and passivation of water soluble machining coolants, chips, particulate, and true machining/cutting oils, buffing and lapping compounds.
- Applicable case study: Automated Ultrasonic Passivation System for Medical Device Parts
Typical Configurations for Automated Stainless Steel Passivation Systems for Medical Device Electropolishing
The automated ultrasonic passivation system configurations below are most common, but systems of any size from 3.5 to 100+ gallon and 1 foot to 15 foot long can be fabricated based on customer application for little to no custom costs. Systems can contain pH and conductivity meters to monitor wash, acid and rinse solutions.
Model Series | Liquid Capacity (gallons) | Ultrasonic Power (Watts) | Hot Air Dryer (Watts) | Tank Dimensions (l x w x h) | Main Process Unit Dimensions (l x w x h) | Storage Tank Capacity (gallons ea) |
1002P | 3.5 | 300 | 1500 | 12″ x 10″ x 8″ | 24″ x 13″ x 18″ (tabletop) | 15 |
700P | 9 | 1200 | 3000 | 18″ x 12″ x 10″ | 28″ x 22″ x 39″ | 15-30 |
992P | 18 | 1800 | 3000 | 24″ x 14″ x 12″ | 28″ x 22″ x 39″ | 30 |
CitriSurf® is a registered trademark of Stellar Solutions, Inc. McHenry IL USA