Clean Rooms Industry Information
IQS Newsroom Articles on Clean Rooms
Clean room usage in aerospace and microtechnology began in the early
1960s, as the United States and other countries geared up for the
"space race." Rapid advancements were being made in the fields of
technology and biochemistry as scientists and researchers began working
on smaller and smaller levels. As a result, scientists and
manufacturers required more and more rigidly controlled working
environments. These controlled work environments came to be known as
"clean rooms," rooms which are sealed off from any air outside. Highly
filtered air falls in what is usually a laminar flow onto the working
space below. All
cleanroom
supplies, persons, and equipment coming in and out of the room are tightly
monitored and special clothing, mouth and head coverings are almost always
required.
Clean room construction manufacturers produce a number of different types, including
portable clean rooms,
softwall cleanrooms and
modular clean rooms.
Cleanrooms contain specially-made
equipment that is made out of easily-cleaned materials like steel and plastic.
The key to "clean room" cleanliness is the number of air pollutants,
or particles, in the air. Sterility is not usually a requirement, since
the real concern when working on microscopic and nearly microscopic scales
is the damage which can be done by particles such as dust, sand, or salt;
bacteria, which are a concern for pharmacists in regards to consumers, and
for microelectronics manufacturers because of the high ion content in bacteria
which creates harmful static electricity; and humidity, which can change
the consistency, electrical charge, and other properties of various substances.
Most cleanroom standards focus on the elimination of particles 0.5 microns
or larger, although some highly specialized industries are lowering maximum
particle size allowed. As a comparison, a human hair is usually 100 microns
in diameter, and humans shed dead skin cells at a rapid rate of 100,000
particles per minute standing still. This is why every item, article of
clothing, and patch of exposed skin are carefully monitored in cleanroom
facilities.
Clean room
design ranges in size, material and level of cleanliness based on their purpose
of use. Some cleanrooms used by manufacturers specializing in microelectronics,
pharmaceutical products, or circuitry are as large as warehouses (often called "ballrooms")
and may keep a high classification of cleanliness. Other cleanrooms used by manufacturers
such as special parts machinists, who only need cleanroom facilities for an occasional
specialized assembly, may have small portable
clean rooms the size of a large closet.
Clean room systems can have hard, usually
glass or clear plastic walls, or soft
walls made of flexible acrylic or similar material.
There are two separate standards of cleanliness classification. The first is
FED standard 209, which classifies cleanroom air into four different classes:
Class 100,000 has a particle count lower than 100,000 particles 0.5 micron or
larger per cubic foot;
Class 10,000 has a particle count lower than 10,000 per
cubic foot;
Class 1,000 does not exceed 1,000 particles per cubic foot; and
Class
100, the highest classification in this standard, never exceeds 100 particles
per cubic foot. The other recognized standard is the British Standard system
which has four classifications based on cubic meters instead of feet, and all
four levels are slightly stricter than the FED standards. Different levels are
required by different industries and various products. The major industries that
use cleanroom facilities at varying classifications are: chemical, printed circuit
board, SMT, computer, silk screening, biomedical, electronics, disc memory, small
parts machining & assembly, packaging, pharmaceutical, photographic, aerospace,
nuclear, optical, hybrid, circuitry and microelectronics.
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Clean Rooms and Clean Room Manufacturers Images Provided by Abtech,
Inc. |
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Clean
Rooms - Image
Provided by American
Cleanroom Systems |
Ball Room Cleanroom |
Conventional Constructed Cleanroom |
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Modular Cleanroom |
Softwall Cleanroom |
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