Cleanroom ensures product quality

Modern research, development and manufacturing processes increasingly require

environmental conditions in which the airborne particle concentration should not
exceed specific limits.

Definition
Room with a defined concentration of airborne particles, designed
and used in a way that the number of particles introduced into the
room or originating and being deposited in the room is as small as
possible, and in which other cleanliness-relevant parameters such
as temperature, humidity and pressure can be controlled as
required.”
The incoming air is processed by means of HEPA and ULPA filters to protect
particularly sensitive products in research and industry against harmful
environmental influences. To this end, also the staff in the cleanroom must comply
with rules of conduct that dictate defined protective clothing.

Cleanrooms can cover areas of various sizes. From individual equipment to

complete production facilities. The appropriate solution always depends on the
requirements of contamination prevention.

The probably most important requirement is the airborne particulate cleanliness

class. This is classified by specifying the maximum permitted number of airborne
particles and divided into 9 ISO classes:

                                                                                    Source: DIN EN ISO

14644-1:2016-06

After the ISO class of the cleanroom has been specified, the type of air flow around
the product must be considered.
 Relevant flow principles in the
cleanroom
1. Turbulent dilution flow: “Airflow not running in one direction. Air distribution,
during which primary air entering the cleanroom or clean area is mixed with the air
inside the room by means of induction.” (ISO 14644-1:2016-06) The filtered clean air
is introduced into the cleanroom with a swirling effect and generates an increasing
dilution of the particle concentration. With this flow principle, the staff’s behaviour
according to cleanroom conditions is particularly important in order to ensure the
required airborne particulate cleanliness class.

2. Low-turbulence displacement flow: “Unidirectional airflow, regulated airflow

with uniform speed across the entire cross-section of a cleanroom or clean area,
which is regarded as parallel airflow.” (DIN EN ISO 14644-1:2016-06) This is also
called “laminar flow” and requires a low-turbulence inflow. In this procedure, the air
escapes on the opposite side, normally consisting of a perforated double floor. From
there, it returns into the recirculation device where it is filtered again. The low-
turbulence displacement flow is particularly suitable for sensitive work areas.

Fan-filter modules (FFM) in cleanrooms

Fan-filter modules and clean air modules are used for clean air supply in clean
environments. They filter the air and form the active elements in cleanrooms, clean
air workstations, mini-environments or cleanroom transport systems.

Fan-filter modules (FFM) consist of three main components:

 housing
 fans
 main filter (HEPA filter, ULPA filter); optionally pre-filter
Basic structure of cleanrooms
Each cleanroom environment has different installation conditions and requirements.
Depending on those, the solution can feature solid wall elements (hardwall) or foil
curtains (softwall) and equipment as well as come in different sizes.

Structure of a softwall cabin: PVC curtains shield the local clean air area against
environmental influences. Several fan-filter-modules ensure the supply with “pure”
air. The exhaust air can easily escape the cleanroom under the curtains.
 Advantages of softwall cabins:

 individual planning and installation

 easy integration of work surfaces, shelves, wet work stations, separately
enclosed inspection workstations as well as personnel and material locks
 adaptation possibility for expansion of the production area
 additional fan-filter modules can be installed easily

Structure of a hardwall cabin: Using a hardwall cabin, you can quickly create a

clean environment for a specific process. Standardized segments allow simple setup
of different cabin sizes.
 Adv
antages of hardwall cabins:

 available in all purity classes

 suitable for use in production areas with very narrow climate tolerances
 precise examination of products or production processes possible

Advantages of a modular cleanroom system:

 individual planning and installation

 easy integration of work surfaces, shelves, wet work stations, separately
enclosed inspection workstations as well as personnel and material locks
 adaptation possibility for expansion of the production area
 additional fan-filter modules can be installed easily

Advantages of a clean working zone:

 the principle of the modular cleanroom can be transferred to work benches,
individual cabins and mini-environments
 individual modules are easy to connect and tailor to customer requirements
 systematic use of the available space
 provides an improvement in the purity class also outside the work surfaces

Cleanroom technology in its entirety has developed enormously in the economic

field. There must be an appropriate ratio of quality and costs. The comparison shows
that a conventional cleanroom is not always necessary.

The modular cleanroom systems prove to be an appropriate solution especially for

small and medium-sized enterprises as they ensure a high degree of flexibility and
the ability to modify the production areas. The transition between modular cleanroom
systems and clean work zones is fluent.

Flexible cleanroom solutions

A cleanroom solution is vital for applications in research, development and
production which must take place in particularly low-particle environments. However,
the best option is not always a conventional cleanroom. Cost-efficiency, above all, is
an important factor in this context. A rental cleanroom, for instance, could be a valid
solution for small and medium-sized enterprises to avoid the high investment in a
conventional cleanroom. Moreover, rental cleanrooms offer a high degree of
flexibility to provide short-term solutions for order peaks, measuring and testing
tasks.

Requirements on mobile rental cleanrooms:

 easy assembly and disassembly

 can be adapted flexibly
 meets highest expectations

Find out more in our blog post: “Benefits and application areas of mobile
cleanrooms”!

Grey room
The term grey room is used for spatially separate areas whose air purity is better
than that of the surrounding spaces, but which do not necessarily offer cleanroom
quality. In order to achieve the required cleanliness, special clean air modules have
been developed. Thanks to a fine dust filter, coarse particles are filtered from the
ambient air. These modules achieve a higher airflow rate and adequate air filtration.

Rental cleanroom
 A rental cleanroom is perfect for temporary cleanroom requirements. Installed at
your premises in little time, it provides the right process conditions for demanding
production, measuring and testing tasks as well as for commissioning of machines,
their cleaning and packaging of products.

This video shows how simple, fast and easy it is to set up a rental cleanroom:

CleanTent/Cleanroom tent
With a portable cleanroom tent (CleanTent), you can quickly and easily create a
short-term cleanroom environment, for example, for service, repair and maintenance
work on sensitive machines and products.

The inside of the COLANDIS CleanTent is supplied with pure air by means of two
fan-filter modules and can therefore reach air purity class ISO 5 in the working area
(approx. 1.2 x 0.6 m²).

 Place a non-binding inquiry for our offers in the field of “clean air to go”!

Cleanroom summary
Each cleanroom environment has different installation conditions and requirements.
You must find out which solution is appropriate for the described process. The
solution can be a hardwall or softwall cleanroom or also a special solution.

However, what is important for product quality is not only the cleanroom itself but
also the behaviour of staff, professional cleaning and continuous measurements as
well as a successful qualification and re-qualification of the cleanroom.

Cleanrooms in production
The goal of zero-defects production in suitably clean production can only be
achieved when the entire process chain is considered. Part cleaning and cleaning of
complete assemblies and machines also plays an enormous role in this context.
Over the last few years, many industries have increasingly been harnessing the
positive influence of cleanrooms on product quality. The automotive industry and
precision engineering, for instance, use cleanroom conditions for more and more
process steps.

Suitably clean production does not exclusively mean production under cleanroom
conditions. Of course, there is the question of cleanroom or grey room to increase
product quality at every stage of the process. However, frequently, already
 consistently defined processes are a first step to protect the quality of products and
save costs.

 Please see our white paper “process development in cleanroom

conditions” for more information on this topic!

Relevant sectors
 semiconductor technology
 laser technology (go to blog post)
 optics (go to blog post)
 aerospace
 nanotechnology
 food industry
 plastic injection moulding  (go to white paper)

Working in the cleanroom

In order to meet the special requirements placed on cleanrooms or on special
solutions such as minienvironments, all factors threatening cleanliness must be
taken into account. Each individual element within the clean environment can
contribute to the contamination of the complete system.

In addition to the processes and machines in the room, the human factor or staff in

particular pose major risks of contamination.

Food and drink in the cleanroom

Diseases
Personal traffic in the cleanroom
Personal
The essential behaviour rules in cleanrooms:
Employees in the clean environment not only need to wear special clothing but
should also have been trained appropriately in dealing with processes and work
steps in the clean environment. Rules for behaviour in the cleanroom are different in
each company and must be aligned with the process and product quality. Hence,
dress codes are not universally valid but must be checked and enforced.

Our view
“In summary, you can thus say that a clean environment is gaining
importance in more and more areas. However, you must always
consider the complete process chain. In the end, a complete
cleanroom is not always necessary. Frequently, it is sufficient to
resort to smaller, local solutions of cleanroom technology because
“the best cleanroom is the one that you don't need.” (quote by
Joachim Ludwig, COLANDIS GmbH)
Conventional Cleanroom Benefits:
 More economical by using conventional construction

 Recognized by various building departments

 Built for compliance to fire ratings

 Utilizes standard building components

 Apply different surfaces to the drywall for different applications

 Quick installation of framing

 Easier installation of area separation walls