For a deeper understanding take for example the ambient air outside in a typical city environment. This contains 35,000,000 particles per cubic meter, which again consists of 0.5-micron particles which might be a bit larger in diameter. This will correspond to an ISO 9 cleanroom, which you will find at the lowest level of cleanroom standards.
How are cleanrooms used?
If you are wondering about clean rooms and how they are used, then know that cleanrooms are used in any and every industry where small particles have the tendency to adversely affect the manufacturing process. These rooms often differ greatly in size and complexity and are used primarily in industries like semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, medical lab equipment, and many more including critical process manufacturing, which is associated with aerospace, optics, military, and the department of energy.
Clean rooms are generally contained spaces where there are provisions for reducing particulate contamination along with other parameters that ought to be controlled and customized with respect to the experiments conducted. These parameters include temperature, humidity, and pressure. The primary devices that are peculiar to these cleanrooms are the ones fitted with High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are used to trap particles that are 0.3 microns and larger in size. These filters channelize the contaminated air of the clean rooms and filter them. Also in some processes which demand a certain level of cleanliness, the Ultra Low Particulate Air (ULPA) filters are introduced for more efficiency.
Besides, the personnel working in the cleanrooms also undergo a certain level of job-specific training and contamination control training before entering the cleanrooms. They enter and exit the cleanroom through airlocks, air showers, and gowning rooms. Also, they should be careful about wearing specialized clothing, which is designed to trap contaminants that are naturally emanated by the skin and the body.
A cleanroom requires its proper set of clothes, equipment, staff and storage systems in order to make things easy and efficient, also making it risk-free in the meanwhile. The storage systems introduced in the clean rooms are really important and we should be really careful when choosing our own cleanroom storage.
Most of the storage devices used in the clean rooms are solely designed for these rooms. The cabinets used in the clean rooms offer clean space that permits the storage of the cleanroom garments, wipes, boots, tools and other supplies. You would also find premium Laminar flow cabinets, which are deemed to be perfect to use for pharmaceutical industries, medical, food, electronics, assembly of miniature mechanisms or any other similar works where clean storage conditions are primarily required to protect the end-product from airborne contaminants.
Through a common list of Cleanroom Storage Devices
If you are yet to decide what to choose for your cleanroom storage, then don’t panic because here we bring you some of the basic storage devices that you need to install in your cleanroom to execute your tasks perfectly. Here are a bunch of storage devices you can pick up before starting with your cleanroom assignments:
Storage Bins
Storage bins are an absolute necessity in the clean rooms. These bins range from tiny to large ones for miscellaneous storage. Akron bins, Akro ESD bins, conductive bins, and conductive dividers are some of the common bins that you will get of varied sizes.
Cabinets
Cabinets are of diverse kinds when choosing one for cleanroom requirements. You can select cabinets from a wide range of the cabinets available in the market that gel well with your cleanroom requirements. From safety cabinets to HEPA filtered cabinets, you can avail any one of them. Chemical storage cabinets, desiccator cabinets, and storage cabinets are the three main variety of cabinets you can choose from!
Cleanroom carts
Cleanroom carts are numerous and are available in all sizes. Therefore if you require anything special, you can research the material and contact a specific manufacturer to fulfill your needs. It is important to note that these carts are normally constructed with plastic, wire, or solid metal. Computer/circuit board carts and utility carts are the basic kinds of carts.
Casters
Casters are essential add-ons that you would need to attach to your cleanroom furniture in order to make them movable. They are nothing but wheels or stands with wheels added, which adds to the mobility of your cleanroom environment. These casters are primarily made up of zinc, stainless steel, or nickel.
Among the other notable cleanroom storage devices are ESD storage products, HEPA cabinets, and casework, devices for shelving and totes.