Cleanroom Blogs

Cleanrooms for Architects

Architects when designing cleanrooms, considerations should include but not be limited to cleanroom classification, inclusion of airlock/gown room, recirculating vs. one pass design, and cleanroom flooring selection.

The Role of Mechanical Engineering in Cleanroom Design

Mechanical engineering is a major component of cleanroom design. Properly sizing the AC to keep the cleanroom cool is critical. Designing cleanroom filtration system and airflow to...

Cleanrooms for US National Laboratories

American Cleanroom Systems is proud to have provided cleanrooms in the past 30 years to following US Government National Laboratories and Agencies...

What is a Cleanroom?

A cleanroom is a special enclosure equipped with HEPA filtration to create a super clean work space. They are commonly used for semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical device manufacturing...

Achieving Optimal Airflow in Cleanroom Design

Optimal cleanroom airflow is achieved by HEPA fan filter units mounted in ceiling, pushing particles to floor in smooth laminar action. Low wall air returns capture the dirty air at floor level and return it to the plenum to be cleaned by HEPA fan filter units again.

All about cleanroom HEPA fan filter units

HEPA fan filter units are HEPA filters with motor fan assembly attached. They are used to provide air filtration in cleanrooms. HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air filter. HEPA filters remove 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns or larger.

Electrical Considerations In Cleanroom Engineering

Electrical is a major component of cleanroom engineering or cleanroom design. Having sufficient electricity to operate the cleanroom hardware and equipment is critical.

The Science Behind Cleanrooms: What Keeps Them Clean?

To make cleanrooms clean the cleanroom are built using HEPA filtration, non-particulating materials, airlocks, and non-particulating flooring.

Cleanroom Design Checklist

There are seven critical items to get right when designing your new cleanroom. Be sure to get these right to make your new cleanroom a success.

What is an ISO-6 Cleanroom Classification?

ISO-6 cleanroom classification is one of the highest levels of the cleanroom classes. The ISO cleanroom standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization

What is a Hybrid Cleanroom?

A hybrid cleanroom is a cleanroom that uses multiple cleanroom wall systems. Hybrid cleanroom systems are often used to reduce project cost by utilizing existing standard construction walls.

What is a cleanroom certification?

Most users test their cleanrooms periodically to ensure they meet ISO cleanroom classification. For medical device and pharmaceutical companies this may be to stay compliant with their CGMP or FDA validation.

What is a Cleanroom Interlock?

Cleanroom door interlock systems are typically used to prevent both doors of an airlock from being opened at same time. This is to prevent particulates from directly entering the cleanroom from outside the cleanroom.

All About Cleanroom Curtains and Strip Curtains

Clear vinyl cleanroom curtains are often used to form air barriers in cleanrooms. They are manufactured from special material that does not particulate. The most common usage is free standing softwall cleanrooms where the cleanroom solid vinyl curtains are used to form the exterior walls.

Difference Between Cleanroom Bench and Cleanroom Fume Hoods

Cleanroom benches are work stations that have built-in HEPA filter systems to provide a higher level of cleanliness than the surrounding cleanroom. For example, it is common to use a class 100 (ISO-5) cleanroom bench inside a class 10k (ISO-7) cleanroom.

All About Softwall Cleanrooms

A softwall cleanroom uses clear vinyl curtains hung from painted steel or aluminum frame with HEPA fan filter units mounted on top.

All About Cleanroom Air Change Rates

A cleanroom air change rate is how many times per hour the air in the cleanroom pass thru HEPA or ULPA filtration to clean the air of particles. The more times per hour the air is filtered the cleaner the room will be.

All About LED Cleanroom Ceiling Lights

Cleanroom lights are special light fixtures that are specially designed so that they do not allow particulates to enter the cleanroom thru the light fixture. Depending on what class the cleanroom light fixture is being used for different features are added.

Stainless Steel in Cleanrooms - Which is the Best Grade?

Stainless steel is an expensive but popular choice for cleanroom equipment due to its durability, strength, and excellent chemical resistance. Modular cleanrooms can also be constructed of stainless steel but it is very expensive so less common.

All About Nutraceutical Cleanrooms

Nutraceuticals are also called dietary supplements. The FDA requires that nutraceuticals be manufactured with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Cleanrooms are typically part of the GMP manufacturing requirement.

Differential Pressure in Cleanrooms Explained

Differential pressure in cleanrooms is typically when cleanroom user wants higher pressure in cleanroom than in ambient area around cleanroom to prevent dirt from entering cleanroom thru cracks, crevices, or when doors are opened.

Semiconductor Cleanrooms 101

Semiconductor cleanrooms are the most demanding cleanrooms in the world. As photolithography linewidths go below 0.1 micron these cleanrooms are typically class 10 or class 100 cleanroom classification (ISO-4 or ISO-5).

Pass Thru Chambers in Cleanrooms

Cleanroom pass thru’s are used to transfer product from inside to outside the cleanroom without going thru doors. A cleanroom pass thru is an airlock with two doors. The doors are typically interlocked

What is an ISO-5 Cleanroom Classification?

ISO-5 cleanroom classification is a common high level of the cleanroom classes. The ISO cleanroom standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization.

HEPA vs. ULPA Filters

HEPA and ULPA filters are used by cleanroom industry to filter the air and remove particulates creating super clean spaces which range from ISO-3 to ISO-8 or class 1 to class 100,000.

Top Seven Cleanroom Design Mistakes

You will be using your new cleanroom for many years. Make sure you are happy with your cleanroom. Here is list of the seven most common cleanroom design mistakes and how to avoid them.

All About Cleanroom Walls

Users have multiple choices when determining what type of cleanroom wall they will use in their hard wall cleanroom. Choices include modular wall systems, traditional stick built gyp-board walls.

Cleanroom Fan Filter Units vs Air Handling Units

Most cleanrooms today are built with HEPA fan filter units in ceiling to provide air filtration for cleanroom class. The advantages of the negative pressure plenum design modular cleanrooms over the old Air Handling units ducted cleanroom design include lower cost, easier install, more robust, and easier to upgrade.

controlled environment, life science lab, cleanroom modular walls, lab cabinets

Cleanroom vs. Controlled Environment

A “controlled environment” typically refers to a separate space where temperature, humidity, air flow, lighting, or access are controlled to meet a specific need such as manufacturing, testing, research, or material storage. They do not require a specific particle count per volume or filtration. To certify a controlled environment the temperature and humidity are measured and logged to ensure the environment is meeting required specification.

How Do Cleanroom Air Showers Work?

Air showers are used to clean particles off personnel before they enter a cleanroom. They are typically used for higher classification cleanrooms (ISO-5 /class 100 cleanrooms, ISO-6 / class 1000 cleanrooms) and are very popular in the semiconductor industry.

What is an ISO-7 Cleanroom Classification?

ISO-7 cleanroom classification is a common medium level of the cleanroom classes. The ISO cleanroom standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization. The ISO cleanroom classification system used in the United States is primarily for pharmaceutical cleanrooms, medical device cleanrooms, biotech cleanrooms, life-science cleanrooms, and USP797/800 compounding cleanrooms.

All About Food Cleanrooms

Cleanrooms are used in food and beverage manufacturing to conform with FDA CGMP regulations. Cleanrooms are most common for beverage bottle filling operations but also for some food products. Since the bottles are often filled and sealed at elevated temperatures in moist steam filled environments, preventing contamination is very important.

What is Cleanroom Lighting?

Cleanroom lights are typically installed in cleanroom t-grid ceilings along with HEPA fan filter units. Normal troffer lights have knockouts and openings that would allow contamination to enter the cleanroom thru the lighting fixture. Cleanroom lighting fixtures are designed to have no openings.

All About Cleanroom Furniture

Cleanroom furniture is furniture that has been designed to be non-particulating and easily cleaned. Materials like cloth, paper, cardboard, and wood are never used in cleanroom furniture.

All About Cleanroom Sprinklers

In most cases you need to install sprinklers in your cleanroom. There are two exceptions. One, the city your cleanroom is located in may not require sprinklers. Two, if you have a different approved fire suppression system.

Cleanroom 101

A clean room is room in which airborne particulates, contaminants, and pollutants are kept within strict limits. For example, in the electronics industry, clean rooms are used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, integrated circuits and PC hard drives.

Cleanroom Gowning Levels

Why do we wear special garments in cleanroom? Humans constantly giving off particles. We accumulate dust, pollen, mold etc. in our hair, on our clothes, on our skin, and on our shoes. Cleanroom garments encapsulate the particles to keep them from contaminating the cleanroom.

ESD Environment Considerations for Cleanrooms

People encounter static electricity in everyday life – crackling when you pull your sweater off, walking on carpeting then getting a shock when you touch the doorknob, and hair standing up when the air is low humidity.

How the 2022 Chips Act Can Pay for Cleanrooms

The 2022 Chips act was passed by the US government in 2022. Semiconductor manufacturing capacity located in the U.S. global share decreased from 1990 37% to 2021 12%. The 2021 automotive, appliance and other industry chip shortages due to Covid shutdown revealed US's huge reliance on possible “non-friendly” supplier countries.

GMP vs cGMP in Cleanrooms: What’s the Difference?

GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practice. cGMP standards for Current Good Manufacturing Practice. Both are standards by the US federal government Food and Drug Administration FDA that regulate the development, manufacturing, testing and sale of food, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices in the United States.

Explanation of Cleanroom Water Systems

Cleanrooms manufacturing processes require some of the cleanest water in the world. The most demanding applications are semiconductor manufacturing and pharmaceutical manufacturing which require “ultra pure” water. The cleanroom water systems use multiple steps to create the water.

All About Cleanroom Flooring

Choosing the correct cleanroom flooring for your modular cleanroom can be very confusing. Balancing variables such as chemical resistance, Electro Static Discharge (ESD), durability, no particulates and cost can be very confusing.

Top 5 Cleanroom Design Tips For Industrial Cleanrooms

How to make sure your industrial cleanroom is built on-time, on-budget and meets your cleanroom classification needs.

One Pass Cleanroom vs. Recirculating Cleanroom

In a recirculating cleanroom, the air is pushed by the HEPA fan filter units from the negative pressure plenum into the cleanroom. A one pass cleanroom draw air from outside the cleanroom into the plenum where the HEPA fan filter units push the clean filtered air into the cleanroom.

How to Select The Best Cleanroom Particle Counter

Whether you have a modular cleanroom, stick-built cleanroom or softwall cleanroom, you may be considering purchasing a cleanroom particle counter to allow you to measure your cleanroom class. There are many choices – handheld particle counters, tabletop particle counters and remote real-time particle counter systems.

What Is An ISO-8 Cleanroom Classification?

ISO-8 cleanroom classification is one of the lowest levels of the cleanroom classes. The ISO cleanroom standards are set by the International Organization for Standardization. They are a private international organization with a membership of 167 national standards bodies.

5 Reasons to Purchase a Turnkey Complete Cleanroom

Buying a turnkey cleanroom means your design build modular cleanroom supplier (like American Cleanroom Systems) will take care of everything. Cleanroom walls, cleanroom ceiling, HEPA filtration, cleanroom lighting, cleanroom flooring, cleanroom doors, cleanroom AC and cleanroom electrical wiring are all included.

10 Tips on Choosing a Building for a Cleanroom

Cleanrooms are tall. There is typically a 2’ high plenum over the cleanroom ceiling that holds HEPA fan filter units, lights, electrical cabling, and sprinkler pipes. That means for a cleanroom with a 10’ internal ceiling the top of the deck will be more than 12’ high. In addition, it's very common to locate the air conditioning air handler, humidifier, or dehumidifier on top of the cleanroom.

Building a Mask Manufacturing Cleanroom

During the 2020 Covid-19 crisis American Cleanroom Systems had to build cleanrooms extremely fast for mask manufacturing. Leveraging our 40 years of cleanroom design-build expertise we created a special low-cost design that could be manufactured, shipped, and installed in under 4 weeks.

Cleanroom Installation: What to Expect

The beauty of modular cleanrooms is all components are prefabricated in the factory so on-site assembly is very fast. Installation can be as little as one-third the time of conventional stick-built construction. There is no on-site cutting, plastering, or painting required which results in a very clean install process. The modular cleanroom is just screwed together on-site.

What Are My Choices For Cleanroom Doors

These cleanroom gown room doors will be the most used doors in the cleanroom. They are typically kept as small as possible (3 ft wide) to limit the amount of contaminated air that can enter the cleanroom. Swing doors should have door closers to make sure the doors close when not in use.

Modular Cleanrooms vs. Standard Construction Cleanrooms

Modular cleanrooms use prefabricated components and dedicated installers significantly reducing the time to build a cleanroom. A dedicated design-build modular cleanroom company is typically responsible for all elements of the modular cleanroom project.

Modular vs. Softwall Cleanroom Systems

The purpose of this blog is to help you choose between a modular cleanroom and softwall cleanroom.

Eight Tips To Expedite Your Cleanroom Design Build

Congratulations – you are building a cleanroom. In order to keep your cleanroom project – on time, on budget and ensure it meets all technical requirements we have put together eight tips.

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