2020 Cleanroom Innovation Round-Up
We exist in a remarkable digital space. This space calls out for serious innovation in all sectors. With the increase in demand, there is a need for a controlled environment in cleanrooms, hence the rapid growth of cleanroom innovations in fields that deal with medical technology, pharmaceuticals, and microelectronics.
COVID-19 has stirred up the need for cleanroom consumables; the quest for finding a vaccine increases research activities. This post aims to review cleanroom construction and contamination control; it will outline the various products used in this process.
Cleaning and disinfection
Microbes always find their way in all environments despite the measures set to ensure they don’t. That is why cleaning and disinfecting solutions come in handy, even in controlled environments.
Hydrogen Peroxide is among the most effective cleanroom solutions. It is a common way to prevent contamination even in the medical field. The reason for its remarkable effect on surfaces is the chemical bond it carries. Hydrogen peroxide is simply the additional oxygen atoms that amplify its ability to destroy microorganisms and bacteria.
The hydrogen peroxide is used together with cleanroom wipes that must have very low lint; this helps lower the rate of contamination and ensure high absorbency and chemical resistance levels.
High-efficiency filters
The high-efficiency filters come in handy in a cleanroom. With the research activities for the COVID-19 vaccine, high-efficiency filters are the best innovation for the season. These filters operate under the turbulent airflow principles. They are 99% efficient in the removal of over 0.3 microns in size. The best part is that these filters’ arrangement and spacing significantly impact how the turbulent pathways form hence can target the point of particle concentration in the cleanroom.
In unidirectional cleanrooms, the high-efficiency filters will come in handy in straightening the airflow.
Air showers
Abtech has participated in the 2020 much-needed air shower innovation. The Abtech air showers are self-contained and are equipped with lowers, programmable microprocessors, controls, motors, and air filtration systems. The air showers they make are useful for removing surface particles from a person before entering the cleanroom working area. The air showers operate under high velocity and low-pressure systems, which gives a pretty standard experience as people go in and out the contamination controlled area.
Monitoring
Cleanroom sizes range widely. For instance, the continuous environmental monitoring software (CEMS) by Serta collects all the real-time data in a room and turns the data into actionable information. The data notifies either high or low compliance of the wrong activities happening in the room. Also, CEMS stores sensor data and alarm logs for compliance reporting. CEMS accepts data inputs from other hardware in the place. The information it receives could be humidity, velocity (ACH), particle count, carbon dioxide, door opening counts, and temperature.
To wrap it up
Sanitizing a cleanroom should go without saying. The best part about the cleanroom innovations is that they keep getting better with the increase in demand. With the new innovations, it should be easy to manage cleanrooms.