When Should you Replace your Cleanroom Tech?

When Should you Replace your Cleanroom Tech?

by | Oct 22, 2018 | Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

Cleanroom equipment is expensive, but that’s because it’s high functioning, specialized equipment for an extremely important and sensitive job: maintaining your cleanroom’s integrity and required classification standards. But like all equipment, it breaks down, wears out, and slows down with time. So how do you know when to replace it?

Like your household appliances, your cleanroom equipment will have a general lifespan, after which you should replace it. Here are some general lifespan guidelines for common cleanroom equipment:

EquipmentExpected Lifespan
Prefilters2 months
HEPA filters7 years
ULPA filters7 years
HVAC system10-12 years
Major analyzers/ automated equipment7-10 years
Fridges/Freezers5 – 12 years
Fumehoods20 years
Autoclave20 years
Centrifuges7 -10 years
Microscopes20 years
Microtomes20 years
Waterbaths7-10 years
Incubators7-10 years
Balances20 years
Warming Plates10 years

 

You should always replace equipment as soon as something goes wrong with it that’s not repairable or when it becomes inefficient. If you have a piece of equipment that still technically “works” but isn’t performing at top efficiency, the money you think you’re saving by waiting to replace it is just going to be eaten up in energy costs.

No matter your cleanroom needs, Angstrom Technology can meet them with a modular cleanroom.

 

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Best Practices for Working in a Cleanroom

Best Practices for Working in a Cleanroom

by | Sep 24, 2018 | Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

Whether you’ve been working in cleanroom environments for 20 years or it’s your first day on the job, a reminder of the basic best practices for working in a cleanroom can always be of use. Here are some things to keep in mind and implement when working in controlled environments:

  1. Follow written procedures

Written laboratory procedures exist for a reason: your safety, product safety, process integrity, cleanroom integrity, customer specifications, and legal compliance, to name a few of the major reasons. Going off script could cause major harm at worst, and at best, save you a few minutes time—hardly a worthwhile trade-off.

  1. Wear proper PPE

Again, this is about safety. Many cleanroom applications deal with hazardous or toxic chemicals and materials, and so wearing the required personal protective equipment, whether it’s gloves, goggles, or just safety glasses, is a must.

  1. Wear proper attire

If your cleanroom has a dress code or a specific gowning procedure, following it is crucial to minimizing contamination from outside as well as from your self, clothes, fibers, skin particles, etc.

  1. Don’t leave doors open

This one is obvious, but worth repeating: open doors let contamination in.

  1. Don’t leave hazardous materials out

Leaving hazardous materials unattended and out when not in use can lead to chemical spills and other accidents that are dangerous to personnel and compromise the cleanroom environment.

  1. Use a fume hood

When working with hazardous chemicals, using a fume hood is critical to keeping vapors and particles out of the air, protecting you and the cleanroom environment.

  1. Report issues immediately

From injuries and accidents to broken equipment, reporting any issues immediately is necessary for resolving them quickly and preventing bigger problems down the line.

Is it time to upgrade your cleanroom? Give Angstrom Technology a call.

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Why You Need a Cleanroom, Not Just a Lab

Why You Need a Cleanroom, Not Just a Lab

by | Sep 10, 2018 | Cleanrooms, Manufacturing Cleanrooms

When you’re in manufacturing, whether you’re dealing with pharmaceuticals, food, or even industrial products, quality is always a critical concern. When quality control matters, you have to test products, and most of that testing likely occurs in a lab. Some products will even need to be manufactured in a laboratory setting. But is your lab the right environment to ensure quality in your manufacturing processes? If it’s just a lab in name only, and not a true cleanroom, it might not be.

What’s the difference between a lab and a cleanroom?

A laboratory is a space dedicated to scientific research, experiments, and testing, as well as the manufacture of certain types of products. There is nothing in this definition that requires the laboratory environment to be controlled in any way. While a pharmaceutical manufacturer might have a highly controlled laboratory environment, a local high school might also have a lab, wherein students conduct experiments under no environmental controls.

A cleanroom is a controlled environment, specifically one that controls the level of contamination from particles, along with other factors such as temperature, humidity, static, etc. Controlling all of these variables protects your processes and products from contamination or conditions that could compromise the integrity of those products and processes.

Cleanrooms are required to meet specific standards as to the number of particles acceptable within the space, and to meet that standard, the cleanroom is regularly tested. Equipment and systems are put in place to maintain the cleanroom environment, including air filter systems and air flow systems, as well as procedures for entering and using the space, from special chambers called air showers that blow contaminants off of personnel before they enter the cleanroom to requiring lab coats or gowns for personnel working in the cleanroom.

Why do you need a cleanroom instead of just a lab?

If you’re not controlling your lab environment, there’s really no point in having one. It’s not going to ensure product quality, integrity, and safety—and those things are all necessary for a sound manufacturing process. For certain industries, like semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aerospace and defense manufacturing (just to name a few of the many industries that use cleanrooms) cleanrooms are either required by law or are enforced as an industry standard. For example, automotive manufacturing cleanrooms are generally required to meet ISO Class 7 or 8 standards in order to meet the supplier requirements of the OEMs they work with and to ensure the quality of their products.

Is it time to upgrade your lab to a cleanroom? Get in touch with the cleanroom experts at Angstrom Technology.

 

How are Cleanrooms Validated?

How are Cleanrooms Validated?

by | Aug 8, 2018 | Cleanrooms

Validation is an important process for any cleanroom. It serves to ensure that the cleanroom is properly installed and designed for its intended ISO classification and that all of the components (facility, environment, equipment) meet regulatory requirements and other defined standards. So what’s the cleanroom validation process?

Most often, cleanrooms are validated by third-party validation agencies. This entails a thorough inspection and several tests, whereafter the cleanroom is certified to a specific class indicating its level of control, usually to an ISO14544-1 class.

Validation has several phases, beginning with design qualification, and ending in final certification.  Some of the tests performed in these phases include airflow volume and velocity tests, HEPA/ULPA filter leak testing, air movement visualization (smoke testing), room pressurization, room recovery, airborne particle count tests, relative humidity, temperature, and other testing conditions.

Certification consists of three main phases. Installation qualification is also referred to as Phase 1 or “As built” testing. Testing is performed with all services connected and working, but no materials, production equipment, or employees present, proving that the equipment is correctly installed

Phase 2 is the operational qualification or “At rest” testing. Testing occurs when equipment is installed but not operating, and no employees are present. This proves that the equipment works properly to achieve the required environmental conditions.

Phase 3 is what is referred to as performance qualification. In this phase, testing is performed with all equipment installed and operating and employees performing their regular work duties and tasks. This testing proves that the cleanroom has the required operational performance for the cleanroom application.

Once initial certification is complete, it is important to regularly recertify to ensure that your cleanroom continues to operate as it did when it was built.  At a minimum, annual certification is recommended. Depending on industry and product, semi-annual or even quarterly certification may be required.

Need a cleanroom to meet ISO or other standards? Angstrom Technology can design it and build it!

 

Hardwall vs. Softwall Cleanrooms

Hardwall vs. Softwall Cleanrooms

by | Jul 11, 2018 | Cleanrooms

If you’ve been looking into cleanroom options for your company, you may have come across the terminology “hardwall” and “softwall” in reference to different types of cleanrooms. But, what’s the difference in those types of cleanrooms? And how do you know which is right for your application? Let us break it down for you.

Hardwall Cleanrooms

Hardwall cleanrooms mimic traditional construction in that they have solid walls (hence the name) but retain greater flexibility. The benefits of hardwall cleanrooms are numerous:

  • Existing HVAC incorporation—hardwall cleanrooms can utilize your building’s existing HVAC while maintaining your cleanroom standards.
  • Mounted equipment—hardwall cleanrooms can be designed around already mounted equipment that is floor mounted or ceiling mounted.
  • Strong environmental control—hardwall cleanrooms allow you total control over your cleanroom environment from static and temperature to particle decontamination to meet even ISO Class 1 standards
  • Able to modify—hardwall cleanrooms have a modular design that makes it easy to expand or upgrade as your cleanroom needs change.     
  • Durable—hardwall cleanrooms have a durable frame and strong ceiling grid, so they last for a long time and never sag.

Hardwall cleanrooms are excellent for large cleanrooms and traditional cleanroom applications and can work well when strict environmental control is necessary.

Softwall Cleanrooms

Softwall cleanrooms function essentially like a tent, they are made of flexible material, unlike traditional walls, and can be freestanding or suspended from your existing structure. Some of the benefits of softwall cleanrooms include:

  • Affordability—softwall cleanrooms require minimal materials and are simple in design, making them a budget-friendly option.
  • Customizable—softwall cleanrooms are super flexible and can easily be customized to your application with the necessary HEPA or ULPA filters or required door type.
  • Flexible—softwall cleanrooms are light and can be easily moved, whether freestanding or attached to your existing structure.
  • Easy to install—softwall cleanrooms can be installed in just a few hours, with minimal tools
  • Space-saving—softwall cleanrooms tend to be compact and can fit nearly anywhere.  

These attributes make softwall cleanrooms great for temporary cleanrooms or cleanrooms requiring less stringent classifications, such as storage applications.

Angstrom Technology is a leader in the design, construction, and installation of both hardwall and softwall modular cleanrooms. Call us today for more information on which is right for your application!

 

Choosing the Right Cleanroom Design and Installation Company

Choosing the Right Cleanroom Design and Installation Company

by | May 7, 2018 | Cleanroom Design, Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

For facilities requiring a clean environment, the cleanroom itself is a crucial component. As a general contractor or builder, you know that finding the right company to design/build and service, your cleanroom is a critical part of your projects success. How do you choose the right cleanroom design and installation company? Here are some qualities a good cleanroom design company should have:

Good communication—quick response times

Communication is essential in any construction project, and it’s vital for subcontracted work. The cleanroom design company that you chose should give respond quickly with a budgetary quote, and be able to answer any technical questions you may have in the design/build portion of your project. Once the project is underway supply you with weekly project updates, keeping your timeline in check.

Fast lead times and ability to meet deadlines

You don’t have months and months to get this cleanroom constructed—you need it done quickly and efficiently, within your timeframe. You have deadlines that you have to meet, and the cleanroom designer should understand and respect that. Given a reasonable amount of time and all the necessary information to complete the cleanroom project, a good cleanroom design firm should be able to make quick turnaround times and keep the cleanroom, and therefore the rest of your project, on schedule.

Customization capabilities

Good cleanroom designers will work with you to create the right cleanroom for the client, and this may include custom requests. Good designers aren’t inflexible—they won’t just provide a boilerplate, cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all cleanroom, because the needs of each client are unique, based upon cleanroom application and other circumstances. The cleanroom design firm you choose should be willing and able to design custom elements such as casework, cleanroom benches, and tables, to fit the client’s specific needs.

Ability to stay on budget   

Cleanrooms can be an enormous cost for your client, and as such, the budget must be respected. If a cleanroom designer can’t stick to the agreed-upon budget, the project can’t succeed, and problems will arise for all parties, the cleanroom design company, you, and the client. Good cleanroom designers will be able to provide a workable cleanroom design within budget constraints.

Selecting the best company for your cleanroom design and installation project is the first and most essential step in providing your client with the cleanroom their company needs. Finding a cleanroom design company with good communication practices, quick turnaround times, the ability to customize, and budget-consciousness will ensure that your cleanroom design is a success.

If you’re tasked with a cleanroom design project and have questions about designing a new cleanroom, give the experts at Angstrom a call. We install all kinds cleanrooms and have a selection of necessary cleanroom equipment and supplies.