Cleanroom Design Tips: Choosing Cleanroom Flooring

Cleanroom Design Tips: Choosing Cleanroom Flooring

by | Mar 23, 2020 | Cleanroom Design, Cleanrooms

When designing the perfect cleanroom, every element has to fit together. Working from head to toe, each component has a part to play in keeping your cleanroom running efficiently. When it comes to flooring, you’ll need to pick the type that best fits the work you’re doing, the materials you’re using, and adds to the cleanliness of your space. 

Before choosing your cleanroom flooring material, consider what requirements your cleanroom has to meet and the type of traffic and wear it receives. Maybe you need a material that can handle harsh chemicals for cleaning or manufacturing processes. Or perhaps your industry deals with electronics whose main enemy is static electricity, and you need flooring that will dissipate static and protect your work. 

There are several common flooring materials for cleanroom design, each with advantages and qualities that make them more qualified for certain applications over others. Here are some of the most common flooring types for cleanrooms:

 

Cleanroom Flooring Types:

 

Rubber Flooring

 

blue-cleanroom

Rubber flooring is installed in sheets and then cold welded into place. It can stand up to heavy wear, making it one of the most durable choices of cleanroom flooring. Rubber sheet flooring is also anti-static and easy to maintain. It’s a low-cost option that is available in many colors that can match any cleanroom design. Rubber flooring is the favorite of many cleanroom designers because it is easy to install and can meet a large variety of operational requirements.

 

Vinyl Seamless Flooring

Vinyl flooring is one of the easiest to clean because of its seamless construction. It can also be used to cover walls in a smooth transition, meaning fewer crevices for contaminants to build up. Vinyl flooring is a very economical option for low-traffic cleanrooms that don’t have to meet high weight requirements. Consistent traffic will wear out vinyl flooring quickly.

 

Epoxy Coating

Epoxy is a coating that is installed over a solid concrete substrate, preferably one that has no cracks and is structurally solid. Epoxy will fill in small imperfections on the floor’s surface, so some leveling is required. Epoxy’s advantage is its dense coating which has a low porosity, making it strong and durable under heavy traffic as well as easy to clean and maintain. It can be applied in a variety of color and performance options that can stand up to corrosive chemicals and dissipate static.

 

Urethane System

Polyurethane flooring exhibits a glossy or satin finish that is maintained even under heavy traffic and use. It is highly resistant to harsh chemicals and substances like gasoline, fuels, hydrocarbons, acids, and alcohols, making it an excellent cleanroom design choice for manufacturing cleanrooms. It also has light-reflecting properties that aid in illumination and can have applications that prevent skids.

 

Others:

Another cleanroom flooring type is Vinyl Composition Tile (VCT). VCT has many seams that require consistent maintenance but is a cost-effective option that complements applications in electronics because of the electrostatic dissipative feature.

Raised flooring panels can be used to improve airflow within a cleanroom. They also increase conductivity and may be static dissipative. Raised panels can be solid panels, grated or perforated.

Depending on the unique specifications of your facility, some flooring types will be better able to accommodate your needs than others. If you’re planning the design for your new cleanroom and are still unsure which flooring type to go with, let the experts at Angstrom Technology help. Our design experts can help you make the tough choices, and ensure you get the cleanroom that’s perfect for your application.

Cleaning your Cleanroom: How Often Should You Have Your Cleanroom Cleaned?

Cleaning your Cleanroom: How Often Should You Have Your Cleanroom Cleaned?

by | Mar 10, 2020 | Cleanrooms, Gowning, Helpful Tips

After you’ve dedicated your time and resources to outfit your cleanroom with the best materials and equipment, you want to make sure to maintain an exceptionally clean environment so your cleanroom can function at peak performance. A lot of factors go into making sure your cleanroom is as clean as possible, from the products you use to the staff that use them. No matter what class rating your cleanroom has, cleaning your cleanroom will ensure longevity and improve efficiency.

All cleanrooms require continual maintenance to be able to operate their best. Cleanrooms should be cleaned according to a regular schedule, meeting daily and weekly tasks.

 

Industry Standards Vary

Cleanrooms vary widely in use. Manufacturing cleanrooms don’t have the same functions or standards as pharmaceutical or laboratory cleanrooms. Depending on the industry you’re in, your cleanroom will have a specific layout, ISO rating, and cleanliness standard. Therefore, its cleaning schedule and procedure will also differ. Cleanrooms with higher ISO ratings must be kept at much higher levels of sanitation to reduce the chance of interference of minute particles and contaminants. Conversely, cleanrooms with lower class ratings, while they may be less threatened by certain contaminants or smaller particle sizes, still require regular cleaning to maintain standards and efficiency.

 

Prevention is Key

The best way to keep your cleanroom clean is to follow proper sanitation techniques before entering a cleanroom. These include things like washing and drying hands completely, using sterile and not powdered gloves, following the proper gowning procedure for your ISO class, and making sure that all employees have access to garments and tools that fit them.

In a perfect world, we would prevent contamination by introducing zero contaminants into your cleanroom environment. Of course, this is virtually impossible, which is why regular cleaning and maintenance of your cleanroom and its systems is critical.

 

Cleanroom Cleaning Procedure:

Keeping your workspace clean requires diligent adherence to daily and weekly cleaning tasks. Depending on the strictness of your class standard, more rigorous objectives may need to be added, or these tasks will need to be completed more frequently. Whatever your facility requires, create and follow a cleaning schedule that clearly defines all assignments, making them easy to understand and follow. Here are the general cleaning protocols recommended for broad cleanroom needs.

 

Daily Cleanroom Cleaning

  • Before shift begins, use a damp mop on floors and vacuum to dry.
  • Vacuum all walls using a HEPA filter vacuum.
  • Wash and wipe dry all windows and pass-throughs.
  • At the end of every shift, wipe down all work areas. This may need to occur more frequently with high class standards.
  • Put away products and supplies between shifts to prevent further contamination.

 

Weekly Cleanroom Cleaning

  • Mop floors with a cleanroom-specific detergent, distilled water, and a HEPA filter vacuum.
  • Wipe walls with a damp sponge and distilled water, then vacuum dry.

 

As Needed

  • Ceiling should be washed with detergent and distilled water to remove any residue or deposits.
  • Using a damp sponge, wipe off all light lenses.
  • Change sticky mats as soon as you notice wear.

Remember, your specific cleanroom may have specialized cleaning requirements. If you can keep and follow methodical cleaning procedures, you can enhance your cleanroom’s ability to serve you and your facility.

 

Cleaning your Cleanroom: What to Know

It’s important to note that even if you follow a regular cleaning schedule, contaminants call still infiltrate your cleanroom and interrupt your processes. Cleaning your cleanroom is more than just the protocol; it also relies on your products, people, and regular performance checks.

 

Products Matter

Cleaning products that are improperly sterilized or unsuitable for cleanroom use can be a cause of contamination. It’s recommended that you use deionized and distilled water for mopping and wiping surfaces and use only cleanroom-specified cleaning agents. All chemicals and solvents for cleaning must be neutral and non-ionic, and also non-foaming so as to avoid buildup on surfaces over time. High ISO class cleanrooms (ISO level 5-7) often require disinfectants to be sterilized before use, further protecting the cleanroom from any contaminants.

Never use scrubs or rags that could shed or corrode surfaces. Instead, only use woven polyester that is specified for cleanroom use. Employ a mopping system that separates dirty and clean water and will not scratch or contaminate the floor or walls. Follow a mopping protocol that efficiently cleans floors without spreading dirty water over cleaned areas.

It’s also a good practice to bring all materials that will be needed — such as brooms, mops, and cleaning agents — into the cleanroom before beginning to clean. This way, once the process is complete, you only need to exit once, reducing the possibility of contamination.

 

Staff Training

scientist in clean suit working in a cleanroom

All staff members and janitorial personnel should be well-educated on gowning procedures, environmental sterilization practices, and general equipment maintenance. It is important that they have a thorough understanding of the best methods for maintaining the cleanroom’s class standards.

Staff should also know what to do in case of a spill. Tools and cleaning supplies should be accessible, but not out in the open where cross-contamination could occur. Having guides and cleaning checklists posted visibly in the room will help staff maintain a sanitary environment.

 

Regular Cleanroom Cleaning Checkups

Even if you’re doing everything right, continue to check your systems and air to monitor their quality and maintain particle levels. Air samplers or settle plates can be used to test for organisms and measure particles per cubic feet.

Additionally, regular checkups of your HVAC system will make sure it is maintaining a steady temperature, level of humidity, and consistently changing air to your ISO specifications.

 

Other Factors

Many other variables can impede the cleaning process. Your cleanroom’s layout should enable a uniform changing of air, free of any obstacles that could interrupt airflow. Furniture, cleaning materials, and even personnel can accidentally block HEPA filters that are responsible for cleaning the air, causing contaminants to build up. Instruct staff to maintain clear airways during cleaning or talk with cleanroom design experts if you’re concerned that your structure is not promoting efficiency.

Your cleanroom’s cleaning needs depend on your specific requirements, ISO rating and level of use of your facility. Keeping a regular cleaning schedule, using cleanroom-specific cleaning agents and properly training staff in sanitization techniques will help you protect your cleanroom environment and boost the efficiency of your facility.

If you’re cleaning your cleanroom, and still not getting the results you want, it might be time for a bit of maintenance. Talk to the experts at Angstrom for help making sure everything in your cleanroom is working the way it should.

Why You Should Hire A Professional for Cleanroom Maintenance

Why You Should Hire A Professional for Cleanroom Maintenance

by | Dec 3, 2019 | Cleanroom Supplies, Cleanrooms

Cleanroom maintenance is an important aspect of running an efficient and effective cleanroom. Since cleanroom operation can be costly, from the specialized design and construction, equipment, and energy requirements, you may look at maintenance as a place to cut costs by keeping it in house. But there are some good reasons to leave cleanroom installation and maintenance to the pros. Here’s why you should hire a professional for cleanroom maintenance.

 

Professional cleanroom companies have crucial expertise

The company who designed your cleanroom is going to understand it even better than you and your employees do, and will, therefore, be able to perform all necessary maintenance activities with ease and efficiency. Additionally, a cleanroom company that specializes in cleanroom design and maintenance is going to have years of experience that will ensure that all necessary maintenance is performed on schedule and that any issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner.

 

Cleanroom maintenance is more than just equipment testing

Maintaining your cleanroom environment takes more than just equipment testing (which is already a lot, we know). Cleanroom maintenance also includes ensuring that there’s the right setup for the tasks and activities performed in the cleanroom and that all necessary supplies from gowns to testing equipment, are on hand at all times. A cleanroom maintenance provider can ensure that you have all necessary testing supplies in good supply, as well as providing project-specific equipment and storage to meet your application and classification requirements.

 

Cleanroom maintenance is too important to get wrong

If you’re not maintaining your cleanroom properly, you’re going to run into all kinds of issues. This could be failing to meet your desired ISO classification because of particulate contamination, equipment issues, old filters in need of replacement, or other problems. If you’re not adequately maintaining your cleanroom, not only will you fail to meet your classification requirements, which could put you in legal trouble or lose you important clients, you could also be energy inefficient. This is an issue not just because of our responsibility to protect the environment but because energy costs money. And wasting energy by faulty equipment running your cleanroom inefficiently is simply wasting money.

 

Not only do we design and install cleanrooms, we also service them. If your cleanroom is in need of maintenance, contact Angstrom Technology.

 

What Is An Inplant Building?

What Is An Inplant Building?

by | Aug 19, 2019 | Cleanrooms

The new trend in industrial and commercial building is inplant buildings. While this may seem like just another trend, there are many reasons why an inplant building might be useful in your factory or industrial application. What are inplant buildings, and what are their benefits? 

What is an inplant building?

Inplant are essentially a building inside of a building, specifically, a factory plant. It’s not just a room, though. An inplant building is more like a suite of rooms or a building itself, with freestanding walls, it’s own ceiling, etc., though it may incorporate some of the factory’s existing structures.

Inplant buildings can serve a lot of purposes, from creating office spaces to separating process flows and more. These inplant buildings are constructed modularly, which has a lot of benefits in terms of build time and cost.

What are the benefits of inplant buildings?

Some of the uses of inplant buildings are obvious: say you need some offices. You don’t want to set up desks and cubicles on the factory floor, next to your inspection area or where the forklifts are parked. An inplant building can solve this dilemma. If you have equipment that is loud and requires hearing protection, you can create an equipment enclosure to contain it and reduce noise to surrounding outside areas. 

One benefit to inplant buildings is their modular construction. Modular construction can be less expensive than traditional construction. Additionally, it is quicker to assemble modularly constructed buildings, which saves you time and lost production time, which saves you even more money. Plus, modular construction depreciates faster than traditional construction, an added tax benefit. 

Another benefit to modularly constructed inplant buildings is their flexibility. If you need a temporary office space for example, an inplant building can serve that purpose and be quickly and easily taken down when no longer needed. In fact, the modular components can all be reused for a new application. If you need to add onto a modular building, or change the layout in some way, modular construction offers that flexibility, since you can add new modules and reuse existing ones in new formations.

Because of their easy of assembly, you can even construct or modify your inplant buildings with your own personnel—no subcontractors required.

 

If you’re looking to create an inplant building, contact the design engineers at Angstrom Technology to see how modular construction can work for your situation, and be sure to check out our guide to Modular Offices and Inplant Buildings.

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications

Everything You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications

by | May 20, 2019 | Cleanrooms, Helpful Tips

Cleanroom classification is both the most important and most complicated aspect of cleanroom design, especially for those who are just beginning their cleanroom design or redesign process. Here are some of the most helpful resources that will tell you everything you need to know about different types of cleanroom classifications to make your cleanroom design project a success.

What You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/need-know-cleanroom-classifications/)

What You Need to Know About Cleanroom Classifications is the perfect primer on cleanroom classification. It explains the classification systems, how classification relates to industry and application, cleanroom states, how cleanrooms work, and how to build a cleanroom to meet a specific cleanroom classification. If you’re getting started with your cleanroom project and know nothing about classifications, start here.

Understanding Cleanroom ISO Classes (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/understanding-cleanroom-iso-classes/)

This post explains the ISO classification based on the maximum number of particles in the air by particle size for ISO classes 1 through 8. It also explains why ISO classification is so crucial as a standard for controlling the cleanroom environment.

Frequently Asked Questions about Cleanroom Classifications (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/frequently-asked-questions-cleanroom-classifications/)

All the FAQs about classifications are in this blog post: What classification do I need? How are cleanrooms classified? How does classification affect my budget? How are cleanrooms tested? How often do cleanrooms have to be inspected? etc.

How Does Cleanroom Classification Affect Your Cleanroom Budget? (link: https://angstromtechnology.com/cleanroom-classification-affect-cleanroom-budget/)

Cleanroom classification is so critical to cleanroom design and operation, and maintaining the necessary controlled environment to your classification’s standards requires a lot of intentional design choices, equipment, and electricity. So naturally, your classification will affect your budget. This blog breaks down where some of that additional cost will come from as your cleanroom classification increases.

Angstrom Technology can design a cleanroom to meet any cleanroom classification. Contact one of our expert engineers to get started on your design.

How Modular Offices Can Work for Your Company

How Modular Offices Can Work for Your Company

by | May 6, 2019 | Cleanrooms

Modular construction has a variety of benefits when it comes to cost, ease of installation, flexibility, and more, and it has many benefits for commercial construction. If you’re adding on to your office space, modular offices can work for your company. Here’s how:

 

Rapid expansion

If your company is getting bigger, you’re going to need more office space. If it’s getting bigger quickly, you’re going to need new offices ASAP. Modular offices are the perfect solution because they can be quickly and easily constructed, not to mention that they can be less expensive than traditional construction. Modularly constructed office spaces can be so easy to install that in some cases, you don’t even need a professional construction or installation crew—your staff can install them on-site.   

 

Temporary workspaces

Just like when you’re rapidly expanding, when you need offices temporarily, modular construction can be the way to go. Why is this? Well, as we mentioned previously, modular construction can be cheaper than normal brick and mortar construction and doesn’t require a subcontractor and full construction crew. Modular offices can be quickly and easily built wherever you need them. And once you no longer need those temporary workspaces, teardown is easy, and you haven’t lost value, as the modular components can be reused.

 

Flexibility for changing needs

Even if you’re not expanding or adding temporary offices for consultants or visiting employees from corporate, modular offices can be the way to go for companies with regularly changing needs. Modular construction means that offices are built using standardized, interchangeable parts, and those parts can be reused and repurposed into new workspaces should your company’s needs change. Modular construction depreciates faster than conventional construction, which can have huge tax benefits for your company.

 

Angstrom Technology doesn’t just design cleanrooms, we also design modular construction for office spaces and more. Get in touch with a design engineer to discuss your project.