Cleanrooms....
Cleanroom....Why need in today's ERA?
Cleanrooms are used in practically every industry where small particles can adversely affect the manufacturing process. They vary in size and complexity, and are used extensively in industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotech, medical device and life sciences, as well as critical process manufacturing common in aerospace, optics, military and Department of Energy.Strict rules and procedures are followed to prevent contamination of the product.
A cleanroom is any given contained space where provisions are made to reduce particulate contamination and control other environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and pressure. The key component is the High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter that is used to trap particles that are 0.3 micron and larger in size. All of the air delivered to a cleanroom passes through HEPA filters, and in some cases where stringent cleanliness performance is necessary, Ultra Low Particulate Air (ULPA) filters are used.
It only takes a quick monitor of the air in a cleanroom compared to a typical office building to see the difference. Typical office building air contains from 500,000 to 1,000,000 particles (0.5 microns or larger) per cubic foot of air. A Class 100 clean room is designed to never allow more than 100 particles (0.5 microns or larger) per cubic foot of air. Class 1000 and Class 10,000 clean rooms are designed to limit particles to 1000 and 10,000 respectively.
Personnel selected to work in cleanrooms undergo extensive training in contamination control theory. They enter and exit the cleanroom through airlocks, air showers and/or gowning rooms, and they must wear special clothing designed to trap contaminants that are naturally generated by skin and the body
A human hair is about 75-100 microns in diameter. A particle 200 times smaller (0.5 micron) than the human hair can cause major disaster in a cleanroom. Contamination can lead to expensive downtime and increased production costs. In fact, the billion dollars NASA Hubble Space Telescope was damaged and did not perform as designed because of a particle smaller than 0.5 microns.
Once a cleanroom is built it must be maintained and cleaned to the same high standards. Our next blog will definitely help you to understand the Causes & Precautions.
