Archive for the ‘Clean Room’ category

Clean Room Pass Box

June 11th, 2014

Pass Boxes: Ultraviolet-Bathed Portals used for passing potentially contaminated items out of the laboratory.

Pass box is a kind of laboratory equipment which is used for transferring the materials from and into the Clean Room or the uncontrolled environment to the controlled environment. Controlling the ingress of particulate contamination into Clean Rooms and other controlled environments is paramount in order to maintain the integrity of products and processes.

Personnel traffic is the most important factor which should be controlled. Pass Box allows materials to be transferred into the controlled environment without actual personnel movement. Pass Box may also be used to protect the external environment from egress (the act of coming and going our) of contamination, for example, in biological safety laboratory applications.

Pass Box is equipped with the UV lamp which is used for sterilization/bacteria control. Pass box is provided with two interlocked doors, when one door is open the other door cannot be open, in this way it prevents the direct contact between the connected areas.  A Reliable Interlock System prevents the two opposite doors of the Pass Box from being opened at the same time, to maintain thestability of the Clean Room atmosphere.

Salient Features of Pass Box

  • Compact
  • Cost-effective
  • Corrosion resistance
  • Good quality raw material

Major application areas

  • Factories
  • Laboratories
  • Drug & Pharma industries
  • Research and development laboratory

Pass Box allows laboratory personnel to stay within the Clean Room instead of moving to different parts of the lab to fetch tools or materials, therefore eliminating a potential cause of contamination. When a door of a Pass Box is opened, a Laminar Air Flow begins inside to safeguard the cleanliness of the materials and of the Pass Box interior. Some types of Pass Box include built-in high velocity showers of HEPA-filtered air that spray materials entering or exiting the Clean Room. Optional Pass Box fixtures include Fluorescent Light Tubes.

Clean Room – Its Applications and Control of Contaminants

April 23rd, 2014

Clean rooms are defined as a specially constructed enclosed area, environmentally controlled with respect to airborne particulates, temperature, humidity, air pressure, air flow patterns, air motion, vibration, noise, viable (living) organisms, and lighting.

Particulate control includes:

  • Particulate and microbial contamination
  • Particulate concentration and dispersion

Particulate/Contaminants must be continually removed from the air. The level to which these particles need to be removed depends upon the standards required. These standards are

  • Federal Standard 209E” defines a clean room as a room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled to specified limits.
  • British Standard 5295”defines a clean room as a room with control of particulate contamination, constructed and used in such a way as to minimize the introduction, generation and retention of particles inside the room and in which the temperature, humidity, airflow patterns, air motion and pressure are controlled.

Airborne particles occur in nature as dust, pollen, bacteria, miscellaneous living and dead organisms, and sea spray. Industry generates particles from combustion processes, chemical vapors, and friction in manufacturing equipment. People in the workspace generate particles in the form of skin flakes, lint, cosmetics, and respiratory emissions. All these particulates are either to be eliminated, diluted or prevented from settling on to the product surfaces.

The purpose of the clean room air-conditioning system is to supply airflow in sufficient volume and cleanliness to support the cleanliness rating of the room. Air is introduced into the clean room in a manner to prevent stagnant areas where particles could accumulate. The air must also be conditioned to meet the clean room temperature and humidity requirements. In addition, enough conditioned makeup air must be introduced to maintain the specified positive pressurization.
HEPA filters are a critical component in clean rooms. Clean room environments require highly filtered air that is frequently changed and delivered at precise conditions. Air-Handling units for clean room application require specific custom units that accommodate laminar air flow, HEPA and ULPA filtration, and sealed-insulation construction.

Applications of Clean Rooms       
Clean rooms are typically used in manufacturing, packaging and research facilities associated with the following industries

  • Semiconductor ; this industry drives the state of the art clean room design and this industry accounts for a significant number of all operating clean rooms.
  • Pharmaceutical ; clean rooms control living particles that would produce undesirable bacterial growth in the preparation of biological, pharmaceutical and other medical products as well as in genetic engineering research.
  • Aerospace; the manufacturing and assembling of aerospace electronics, missiles and satellites were the first application of clean rooms. Large volume clean room spaces with extreme cleanliness are involved.
  • Miscellaneous applications; other uses include advanced materials research, laser and optic industries, microelectronic facility, paint room and in some aseptic foods production. Also in some high infection risk areas of hospitals.

Control of contaminants

Control is primarily through airflow design. Construction finishes; personnel and garments; materials and equipments are sources of particulate contaminations that must be controlled. Important control precautions include:

  • Walls, floors, ceiling tiles, lighting fixtures, doors and windows are construction materials that must be carefully selected to meet clean room standards.
  • People must wear garments to minimize the release of particles into the space. The type of garments depends on the level of cleanliness required by a process. Smocks, coveralls, gloves and head and shoe cover are clothing accessories commonly used in clean spaces.
  • Materials and equipments must be cleaned before entering the clean room.
  • Room entrances such as sir locks and pass through are used to maintain pressure differentials and reduce contaminants.

Air shower is used to remove contaminants from personnel before entering the clean spaces.

Clean Room and Air Shower

April 7th, 2014

Clean rooms are designed to restrict the admission of all types of microbial and particulate contamination. A Clean Room is a room that has a controlled level of contamination usually specified by the number of micro particles per cubic meter at a specified size. Clean rooms are used for a wide variety of industrial, medical, pharmaceutical and research application.

Sometimes numerous contaminants and particles can be introduced into a clean room and for that reason clean rooms will feature decontaminating personnel/equipment such as Air Shower. Clean Rooms rely on the effectiveness of terminal high efficiency particulate air HEPA filter (provided by Air Shower) to provide particle free air to the controlled environment. An Air Shower is very often a self-contained unit that utilizes specialized, high efficiency air flow (HEPA filter) to effectively remove all types of contaminants.

Air Showers are booth or narrow enclosed passageways that have air nozzles fitted into the walls that blast air onto the workers. When the highest levels of particulate and microbial contaminant control are required an Air Shower will always be installed.

Whatever the application is, like the medical research to the sterile packaging facilities, a truly clean environment is one of the required conditions. An Air Shower ensures the cleanest possible environment possible for industries such as:

  • Pharmaceutical research and manufacturing applications.
  • Medical patients’ isolation units.
  • Biomedical and other research endeavors.
  •  Sterile packaging facilities.
  • Aviation and aerospace manufacturing applications and more.

Air Showers can greatly enhance Clean Room’s performance by removing surface contamination from clothing and Clean Room garments. Air Showers blow off and remove much of this contamination preventing it from entering the clean space.