3 Benefits of Positive Pressure Cleanrooms for Aerospace & Defense Industries

3 Benefits of Positive Pressure Cleanrooms for Aerospace & Defense Industries

Pressurized cleanrooms are used in a range of industries and applications. Varying levels of pressure determines the way air naturally moves in a space. High and low pressure, or positive and negative pressure, can be used as a tool in cleanroom environments to protect against entering contaminants (in positive pressure cleanrooms) or contaminant leakage (in negative pressure cleanrooms). 

We’re going to focus on positive pressure cleanrooms, how they work, and the benefits they offer to aerospace and defense cleanrooms

 

What are Positive Pressure Cleanrooms?

 

Positive pressure cleanrooms have greater air pressure in the cleanroom than the outside environment. In a positive pressure cleanroom, clean, filtered air is consistently pumped into the room through the HEPA filtration and cleanroom HVAC system. In the event that a door or window was opened in the cleanroom, air would rush out into the outside environment. 

This positive pressure ensures that in the event of a breach or leak in the cleanroom, the products and processes within the cleanroom are protected. Because the cleanroom has positive pressure, the air is forced out of the cleanroom, preventing contaminated or unfiltered air from seeping in. 

Positive pressure cleanrooms are most commonly used in applications where the cleanliness of the air within the cleanroom is more important than the air quality outside the cleanrooms. For highly technical applications like microelectronics, aerospace, and defense, where the tiniest particle can damage the quality of the manufactured product, a positive pressure cleanroom affords a number of benefits. 

 

3 Benefits of Positive Pressure Cleanrooms for Aerospace and Defense Industries

 

Positive pressure cleanrooms are beneficial to a wide range of applications. For microelectronics, they afford the cleanliness standard required to minimize damages to electronic components like microchips. For hospital and healthcare applications, positive pressure cleanrooms provide the controlled environment healthcare professionals need to keep patients safe. 

But outside these common applications, positive pressure cleanrooms also provide a wealth of benefits for other industries. Let’s look at three benefits of positive pressure cleanrooms for aerospace and defense industries:

 

#1 Maintain Cleanroom Classification

 

One of the key benefits of a positive pressure cleanroom for aerospace and defense industries is the cleanroom’s ability to maintain its classification. Because clean, filtered air is constantly being pumped into the cleanroom, it’s very difficult for contaminants or particles to enter. Particles must work against the flow of air to enter a positive pressure cleanroom, which helps to keep your cleanroom at its required classification. This ensures your cleanroom is able to regulate itself with ease, with minimal maintenance or upkeep from your staff. 

 

#2 Keep Out Debris and Particles

 

For aerospace and defense cleanroom applications, debris and particulate can be exceptionally damaging. When you’re working to manufacture sensitive products like microchips, defense products, aircraft, or even spacecraft, the smallest particle can affect the quality of the manufactured product. 

Positive pressure cleanrooms work to assist aerospace and defense applications by making it very difficult for debris and particles to enter the cleanroom. Even when an employee is entering a cleanroom or opening a pass-through, the positive pressure of the cleanroom forces the excess air in the room out, minimizing the potential for contaminated air or particulate to enter the cleanroom. This is particularly useful in research and manufacturing applications where a highly controlled environment is key to the success of the project or process. 

 

#3 Protect Sensitive Work

 

Many aerospace and defense applications deal with sensitive electronics and sensors and navigation system calibration. This type of work requires a well-controlled environment. Even the smallest particle can disrupt sensitive navigation systems or compromise the quality of a sensor or microchip. 

For aerospace and defense applications like this, a positive pressure cleanroom provides the necessary level of protection from contaminants. A positive pressure cleanroom is first developed to meet the application’s classification standards, and provides an extra level of protection thanks to the nature of positive pressure. 

In addition to meeting cleanroom classifications, the positive pressure cleanroom makes it much more difficult for debris and particulate to enter the cleanroom, protecting even the most sensitive aerospace and defense research, calibration, and manufacturing processes. 

 

Positive Pressure Cleanrooms Benefit a Variety of Aerospace and Defense Applications

 

Positive pressure cleanrooms are the ideal choice for a variety of aerospace and defense applications. From electronics and microchip manufacturing to aircraft and spacecraft production to navigation system calibration, there are a number of processes that can benefit from the extremely controlled environment a positive pressure cleanroom provides. 

Is a positive pressure cleanroom right for your application? Let the Angstrom Technology team know. We design, manufacture, and install cleanrooms for custom applications in the aerospace and defense industry and beyond. If you’re looking for a cleanroom that fits your unique application and cleanroom classification, we can help. Give us a call at 888-768-6900 or contact us online today for more information.

 

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3 Types of Medical Cleanrooms

3 Types of Medical Cleanrooms

Medical cleanrooms are vital for the work of finding medical solutions, developing vaccines and treatments through pharmacological products, and manufacturing life-saving medical devices, among other important applications. Three main types of medical cleanrooms are medical research cleanrooms, medical device cleanrooms, and pharmaceutical cleanrooms. The cleanroom design for each type will differ depending on the goals of the facility and its cleanroom classification requirements. 

Let’s take a closer look at these three types of medical cleanrooms, and how they differ in their applications, classifications, and cleanroom design. 

 

Medical Research Cleanrooms

 

Medical research cleanrooms are used in the pursuit of medical understanding, research and experimentation, and the development of treatments. Medical research cleanrooms are often required to be biosafe, and have extra safeguards in place to protect employees and their important work from potential biosecurity risks.  

The cleanroom environment must be highly sterile. Medical research cleanrooms usually fall within ISO 14644-1 Class 5-7. The rigorousness of the standard is dictated by the risk level of contaminants to cleanroom operations and safety. For example, for research involving blood or stem cells, an ISO Class 5 cleanroom environment is likely necessary. This means the cleanroom must have a powerful filtration system in place, with allowed particle count of fewer than 3,520 particles half a micron or larger. 

Medical research applications working with infectious or toxic fumes or substances often require negative pressure cleanrooms. This added safeguard keeps contaminants from inside the cleanroom from escaping where they could cause harm to those outside the cleanroom environment. 

Whether for the uses of cancer research, the study of infectious diseases and viruses, or the pursuit of potent and effective vaccinations, medical research cleanrooms are fully equipped with all the specialized equipment, safe storage, and ergonomic furniture researchers need to do their jobs comfortably and effectively. Medical research cleanrooms are usually designed with HardWalls. HardWall cleanrooms can meet even the most stringent classifications these types of medical cleanrooms may require, and are highly modifiable to any application’s unique needs. 

 

Medical Device Cleanrooms

 

Medical devices are specialized products used to diagnose, treat, and cure patients. Unlike pharmaceutical products, medical devices are not metabolized. Instead, they can be used internally and externally as a tool by medical professionals, or even implanted for a long-term solution. Because they come into contact with tissues and membranes, medical devices must be contaminant-free or able to be thoroughly sanitized to prevent the possibility of infection or other risks. For this reason, the production, assembly, and packaging of medical devices requires a controlled cleanroom environment, validated and monitored by stringent requirements and quality control. 

The different stages of medical device production, assembly, and packaging have different cleanliness requirements, and often fall under separate classifications. For example, most medical device manufacturing cleanrooms must comply with ISO Class 5-8 standards. 

More specifically, medical device cleanrooms manufacturing non-critical and semi-critical devices fall in the ISO Class 7-8 range, while devices with critical disinfection levels (like surgical equipment and implanted devices) require the cleanest environments and must comply with ISO Class 5 or greater. Essentially, the stringency of requirements increases as device part sizes become smaller and more intricate.

Medical device packaging cleanrooms, while still very closely monitored to prevent contamination, generally operate within ISO Class 7-8 standards. 

The best cleanroom type for medical device manufacturing and packaging is a HardWall cleanroom. This cleanroom type is able to comply with strict classification requirements and maintain a stable, contaminant-free environment throughout all stages of device production. 

 

Pharmaceutical Cleanrooms

 

Pharmaceutical cleanrooms are used to develop chemical treatments and cures to improve health and save lives. In the development and testing of pharmaceuticals, even the slightest contamination could have serious consequences on medical study results or treatment efficiency, and could even lead to life-threatening consequences. Because of this, the pharmaceutical industry is subject to heavy regulation.

Pharmaceutical cleanrooms often require varying levels of cleanliness depending on the type of substances, chemicals, and procedures involved in their operation. The minimum standard for pharmaceutical cleanrooms is generally ISO 7 with progressing needs of ISO 5 or more, which requires 240-600 air changes per hour and 35-70 percent ceiling coverage to maintain an environment of 100,000 0.1μm particles per cubic meter.

Pharmaceutical cleanrooms are also governed by additional regulations by US Pharmacopeia, or USP Standards. Pharmaceutical compounding spaces follow USP Standards 797 for sterile non-hazardous compounds, or the stricter USP 800 for sterile hazardous compounds. USP standards prescribe layout options according to the optimal airflow patterns, cleanroom organization, operator techniques, and sanitation levels of each standard. 

Due to the high level of control needed in a pharmaceutical cleanroom, HardWall cleanrooms are the obvious solution. Able to maintain strict environmental standards and eliminate error caused by temperature, humidity, or contamination, HardWall cleanrooms offer a reliable structure to any medical cleanroom design. 

These three types of medical cleanrooms are vital and valuable investments to businesses pursuing research or creating and preparing compounds and devices to improve health and save lives. Important work in the healthcare industry merits a high-performing medical cleanroom to keep projects and employees protected. 

From pharmaceutical development to medical device manufacturing and packaging, Angstrom Technology designs, builds, and installs medical cleanrooms for any classification standard. If you’re ready to start designing your new cleanroom, get in touch with Angstrom Technology’s professional team today.

How to Upgrade your Cleanroom

How to Upgrade your Cleanroom

As Greek philosopher Heroclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” While the conditions in your cleanroom are designed to stay the same, your work rarely does. If your project needs are evolving, you might find yourself needing to meet new cleanroom classification requirements. Even a seemingly small jump to a more stringent ISO Class can be a big change for your facility. How do you make the leap? Let’s work through what upgrading your cleanroom will look like, and how to start the process. 

 

Upgrading Your Cleanroom Classification?

Start Here.

 

If you have to move to a more stringent qualification, the first thing you have to do is take a hard look at your cleanroom classification. Start with your classification as it stands and look at the specific areas you need to adjust to achieve the next level of cleanliness. To do that, we have to break down what’s in a classification. While there’s much more involved than just these three elements, the main differences between classifications are defined by:

  • Allowed particles (by number and size)
  • Air changes per hour (or airflow velocity)
  • Percentage of ceiling coverage of FFUs (filter fan units)

When upgrading your cleanroom, you’ll need to make changes to address these three areas in order to make your cleanroom more clean. In addition to ISO standards, your cleanroom upgrade will also reflect necessary changes specific to your new project or scope of work. Consider your new application or purpose and what upgrades will ensure success in your future endeavors. This could include more control over temperature and humidity, more space for equipment, cabinetry and other storage, cleanroom furniture, lighting, ESD-safe materials, or other specialized features. 

 

Redesigning Your Cleanroom

 

Whether you’re upgrading your cleanroom to meet a new classification, to match a new purpose, or both, there are several factors you should consider when redesigning your space. Your cleanroom upgrade encompasses the layout and structure of your space, your cleanroom’s systems, and how to maintain your new classification once reached.

Reconfiguring Your Cleanroom Layout

 

When redesigning your cleanroom layout, you can easily rearrange modular panels to create the new space and shape that works for your new project. Add more panels for a larger cleanroom, or remove and store extras for a more controlled, condensed space. Your upgraded cleanroom may require more space for additional personnel, large equipment, or room to move carts and transport products, so be sure to factor these potential needs into your cleanroom redesign.

If you’re upgrading your cleanroom to a more stringent classification, or your project parameters are changing significantly, you may need to choose a different structure altogether.  Consider these three types of cleanrooms for your redesigned facility:

  • HardWall Cleanrooms: Offering increased security and the highest possible control, HardWall cleanrooms are able to meet the strictest classification standards effortlessly.
  • SoftWall Cleanrooms: The most flexible cleanroom type, SoftWalls are easy to expand, reconfigure and fit in small spaces. They’re an affordable modular option with room to grow.
  • RigidWall Cleanrooms: With less flexibility than HardWalls but more stability than SoftWalls, RigidWall cleanrooms are a minimalist middle ground made of solid clear panels — great for showing off your operations to investors.

Upgrading Cleanroom HVAC System

 

Upgrading your cleanroom will likely also require upgrading the systems that support it. You may be able to update your existing cleanroom HVAC system or add a dedicated system if your new classification requires more control over temperature and humidity. A powerful and reliable HVAC system does more than just keep your employees comfortable. It also helps to maintain a stable atmosphere for any sensitive hardware or substances you work with, and prevents machinery from overheating. 

Humidity control can help avoid potential problems that come with too much moisture such as condensation and contamination, which could impact productivity by extending drying time or causing products or processes to fail. A cleanroom HVAC system that is in tune with your project and facility’s needs will keep your cleanroom clean and consistent.

Meeting New Cleanroom Filtration Requirements

 

Your cleanroom classification will specify your allowed particle count, as well as the minimum air changes needed to clean the air effectively. When upgrading your cleanroom, you will likely need to increase your air change rate and capture more and smaller particles. You can achieve this by adding more fan filter units to increase your percentage of ceiling coverage. This is also a good time to check and/or replace HEPA filters to make sure they are effectively removing particles from the air.

Additionally, rearranging your layout or furniture might require the implementation of a new airflow pattern. Furniture or equipment can block filters and interrupt the flow of air, creating pockets of turbulent air or spaces where contaminants could be trapped. To find the best airflow pattern that works with your upgraded cleanroom, work with a cleanroom design expert. They can use computational fluid dynamics to model your cleanroom airflow pattern and make decisions about layout that will improve air change efficiency and support the healthy life of your HEPA filters.

Proper airflow with effective filtration will ensure you are removing particles consistently and reaching appropriate levels for your new classification. Once it reaches that level of clean, all you have to do is keep it there.

Maintaining Your Cleanroom Classification

 

Once you’ve upgraded your cleanroom to its new classification, congratulations! Now you’re done, right? Unfortunately, reaching new requirements is only half of the battle. Most of the work lies in supporting your upgraded cleanroom with regular maintenance and cleaning. Follow through with regular maintenance tasks like cleaning procedures, replacing pre-filters, and servicing equipment to make sure your cleanroom stays in top condition. 

Your cleanroom should be checked regularly to make sure it complies with your classification standard. If your cleanroom falls in the ISO Class 5 or lower category, it will need to be monitored with particle count tests biannually, per ISO 14644-2. Cleanrooms with less stringent standards are checked once each year.

Keep up with scheduled maintenance and monitoring tasks to make sure your cleanroom meets its new standards completely and consistently.

If you need to upgrade your cleanroom to a higher classification, we can help. We’ll take a look at what you’ve got, and determine the best way to get you where you need to be. Once you’ve reached your goal, we can add you to our regular cleaning and maintenance schedule, so you don’t have to worry about consistently meeting your classification standards. Reach out to Angstrom Technology for all of your cleanroom needs today!

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What’s the Deal With Segmented Cleanrooms?

What’s the Deal With Segmented Cleanrooms?

An important part of cleanroom design is the choosing the best layout to suit your unique application. If your cleanroom has the challenge of needing to meet changing requirements or different levels of cleanliness, air changes, or pressure for different stages of work or to contain hazardous substances, it can be complicated to fit all of your cleanroom needs in one design. 

The solution to this problem is to segment your cleanroom design. Segmented cleanrooms are commonly used in medical applications that require separate spaces for different products or processes to ensure the safety of employees and their work.  Let’s explore segmented cleanrooms and their uses, and how their attributes can go beyond necessity in medical cleanrooms.

 

What Are Segmented Cleanrooms?

Segmented cleanrooms embrace different requirements and cleanroom classifications within a single cleanroom design. To do this, separate spaces are created within the cleanroom and modified to match the necessary requirements. Depending on the needs of the facility, this could mean a cascading pressure system utilizing a negative pressure room and higher pressure ante room; separate areas that meet different classifications, such as for manufacturing vs. packaging, treatment vs. isolation and quarantine, etc.; or any other separate-but-linked purposes your application requires.

Even when segmenting your cleanroom design isn’t required by your industry-specific standards or cleanroom classification, segmentation can offer added benefits like energy efficiency and cost savings. Rather than running the entire cleanroom at the lowest possible classification, a segmented cleanroom makes use of its systems where they’re most needed. This saves energy from powering FFUs and the cleanroom HVAC system, and lessens the strain on expensive HEPA filters. Also, there may be areas in the cleanroom where specialized products, like ESD-safe or classification-compliant materials, can be limited. By restricting use of those extra materials and energy costs to the segment where they’re being used, you’ll save money in your cleanroom design, build, and daily operational costs.

 

What Medical Applications Benefit from Segmented Cleanrooms?

Segmented cleanrooms are useful in medical applications where different requirements are necessary, particularly in medical device cleanrooms, pharmaceutical cleanrooms, and medical research cleanrooms.

Medical Device Cleanrooms

Medical device cleanrooms are governed by different requirements depending on the stage of production;  for example, between manufacturing and packaging. Most medical device manufacturing cleanrooms are required to comply with ISO 14644-1 Class 5-7, while medical device packaging is regulated by Class 7-8 standards. Also, while both phases are confronted with risks due to electrostatic discharge, it is most important to control static in the packaging phase, requiring more safeguards to dispel or conduct charges away from devices using ESD-safe equipment and materials. 

A segmented medical device cleanroom design could accommodate all of these requirements, by separating classifications within the same facility. Rather than running the entire space at the lowest possible classification, a segmented cleanroom would save significant energy costs, and be able to more efficiently prioritize operations according to each phase of medical device assembly.

Pharmaceutical Cleanrooms

Many pharmaceutical cleanrooms are designed using cascading pressure rooms with different pressure levels. In this system, each segment has a higher or lower pressure and a specific use to help protect contaminants from leaving one space and transferring to another where they could reduce the effectiveness of compounds, nullify test results, or even endanger human or animal life.

For example, the compounding area in a pharmaceutical cleanroom has different classification requirements and even a different pressure than the ante room attached to it. The purpose of the ante room is to allow the pressure difference to exist, and create a step down for employees to prepare before entering or after exiting the stringent segment. Segmented cleanrooms allow a single pharmaceutical cleanroom to house separate classifications in order to work with hazardous compounds safely and efficiently.

Medical Research Cleanrooms

Medical research cleanrooms may require an adjacent space for biosafe procedures or to house a negative pressure room. If the work involves sensitive or hazardous substances, a more rigorous classification and pressure will be required to isolate the work from external contamination or restrict contaminants from exiting the cleanroom. Segmented cleanrooms are used to allow these processes to occur within the same facility. An intuitive cleanroom design helps researchers focus on their work and feel safe within their environment. 

Interested in a unique cleanroom layout for your application? Get in touch with Angstrom Technology! Whether you want to create a segmented pharmaceutical cleanroom or upgrade your cleanroom classification, our experts can help you design, build, and install the ideal cleanroom for you. Reach out to us online today for a free quote.

3 Common Types of Cleanrooms

3 Common Types of Cleanrooms

If you know you need a controlled space to operate your business, a cleanroom is designed to help you achieve a completely clean environment to work, while managing environmental factors like temperature, humidity, static, and pressure. Whether you’re manufacturing, developing, inventing, testing, or packaging, various cleanroom types will offer you different features. Some might be better suited for certain cleanroom classifications or offer special features or more compatibility with your unique application. Let’s take a look at three common types of cleanrooms: HardWall, SoftWall, RigidWall cleanrooms.

 

HardWall Cleanrooms

 

For cleanrooms with rigorous classification standards, HardWall cleanrooms are designed to comply with any cleanroom classifications, even the most stringent (ISO Class 1).

HardWall cleanrooms can be freestanding or incorporated into an existing building. Made using a coated aluminum frame with a prefabricated panel, HardWall modular cleanroom panels are designed to achieve a high level of control over static, pressure, humidity, and contamination.

A great advantage of HardWall cleanrooms is that they can be installed in an existing structure around mounted equipment, using light from the building’s windows and connecting to the existing HVAC system. This cleanroom type also offers extreme environmental control beyond particle count and air changes. In addition to management of temperature, static, and humidity, HardWall cleanrooms can be pressurized if your classification requires extra contaminant protection. 

HardWall cleanrooms can comply with any industry specific requirements and are well suited for all cleanroom applications such as medical cleanrooms —  including research and pharmaceuticals —  aerospace cleanrooms, and even sensitive electronics manufacturing or semiconductor cleanrooms. HardWall cleanrooms can be easily modified or reconfigured by adding or removing modular panels, and are durable enough to be reused, relocated, and repurposed while maintaining their quality.

 

SoftWall Cleanrooms

 

SoftWall cleanrooms are a minimalist, lightweight cleanroom type that can accommodate most cleanroom classification standards. SoftWall cleanrooms can fit in almost any space and are fully customizable with a wide variety of filtration options, door types, and other modifications. 

Featuring an aluminum alloy frame and clear or opaque vinyl curtains around the perimeter, SoftWall cleanrooms are designed to be more compact, so they can work almost anywhere in your facility — even within another cleanroom. Of course, if you’re looking to expand, custom sizes are available. Curtains are made from anti-static or conductive PVC or polyethylene. 40 mil clear is the standard option, but frosted or clear anti-static vinyl are also available as well, in a range of colors for UV absorption. During installation, wiring is installed on-site, with optional pre-assembled wiring harnesses. You can also choose to install standard fan filter units and a control panel for FFUs, lighting, and other wiring. 

SoftWall Cleanrooms are able to reach most cleanroom classifications, and are ideally suited for ISO Classes 4-8.

If you’re looking for an affordable cleanroom option that’s easy to assemble and maintain, a SoftWall cleanroom would be perfectly suited for your application. SoftWall cleanrooms have the advantage of being an affordable modular option that don’t sacrifice their high performance capacity. Their extremely flexible design makes them a great choice for applications that need room to grow, including plastics manufacturing, automotive cleanrooms, growrooms, and some medical cleanroom applications.

 

RigidWall Cleanrooms

 

RigidWall cleanrooms can also provide a suitable environment for applications with less stringent classification requirements, with some flexibility that allows you to make changes as necessary to the layout and design of your cleanroom. RigidWall panels have a durability comparable to HardWalls, with full visibility floor to ceiling. They are best used for cleanrooms with classifications ISO Class 5-8.

With a choice of acrylic, static dissipative PVC, or polycarbonate wall panels, a RigidWall cleanroom will house your operations in a transparent, attractive style. Unlike the SoftWall curtain or the utilitarian HardWall panels, RigidWall panels are sleek and minimalist. Flat, clear panels allow easier monitoring of the cleanrooms while also creating an attractive feature for the space, making them a perfect frame to show off your work to investors.

An advantage of RigidWall cleanrooms is that they are easy to maintain. Although they aren’t as flexible as SoftWall panels, RigidWalls can be modified with some effort, or even stored if you need to free space for something else. RigidWall panels can be customized in size with heights up to 7-14 feet, and come pre-wired with outlets and switches to control lighting, fans, and equipment. Panels are suspended from a strong ceiling grid which, fully-secured, means the panels will maintain their shape and integrity over time.

RigidWall cleanrooms make a high-performance choice for a number of applications such as automotive cleanrooms, aerospace cleanrooms, and some medical device packaging and plastics cleanrooms.

All cleanroom types can be fully customized or modified to your unique application. Whether you need a highly controlled environment to meet stringent cleanroom classification requirements or an affordable option to allow your operations to grow, a HardWall, SoftWall, or RigidWall cleanroom would be a great choice for your facility.

Still not sure which cleanroom type is best for your application? Talk to the experts at Angstrom Technology. No matter what type of cleanroom you need, we can help you design and install it. To help you decide which cleanroom type is best for you, give us a call!