In the production of certain devices and equipment’s special rooms are used to control the surrounding environment and to keep it as clean as possible. The reason behind this is if the manufacturing or other technical processes are carried out in normal surroundings then several factors can hinder the manufacturing process and may impact the quality and efficiency of the product which is produced. This is the reason why the concept of Cleanrooms was introduced.
What is Cleanroom?
The modern cleanroom was invented by American physicist
Willis Whitfield in 1960. A cleanroom is
any given contained space where provisions are made to reduce particulate
contamination and control other environmental parameters such as temperature,
humidity, and pressure. A cleanroom design could be of any size from just a few
meters to hundreds of square meters. A cleanroom should be built with those
kinds of materials only that are not contaminated, polluted or harmful in any
sort of manner. On the basis of how clean the airflow is, cleanrooms are
classified.
Cleanroom Protocols:
There are various protocols and standards that are needed to
be followed to keep the internal environment of cleanroom clean and
decontaminated. Following are certain cleanroom protocols and standards to be
followed:
·
The
airflow of cleanroom should be clean. Cleanrooms maintain particulate-free air
through the use of either HEPA or ULPA filters employing laminar or turbulent
air flow principles. Laminar, or unidirectional, air flow systems direct filtered
air downward in a constant stream.
·
Proper
precautions should be taken while designing a cleanroom.
·
A
cleanroom should be equipped with proper safety equipment’s to tackle any kind
of emergency situation.
·
The
operator must wear proper clothing such as Cleanroom suits to cover
their body to minimize the dispersion of micro-organism from human hair, skin
flakes, or clothing fibres.
Cleanroom Suits or popularly known as Bunny Suits Cleanroom, are a part of standard protocol for an operator to enter into
the cleanroom. This is a mandatory protocol because around 70-80% of cleanroom
contamination are operator-based contamination. Thus, to keep the cleanroom
uncompromised and to keep the operator safe such suits are used.
These Suits are called Bunny suits as they are mostly white
in colour. These suits include Boots, shoes, aprons, masks, gloves, headcover,
coats, gowns, hand sleeves, etc.
Applications of Cleanrooms:
Most cleanrooms are used for manufacturing products such as
electronics, pharmaceutical products, and medical equipment. It is also used
for research purposes. There are a number of fields in which cleanroom has its
application. These are:
·
Pharmaceutical
Companies
·
Research
Facilities
·
Manufacturing
Companies
·
Aerospace
Industry
·
Nanotechnology
Production
·
Manufacturing
Companies
·
Optics
and Lens Manufacturing
·
Medical
Laboratories
·
Electronic
Industry
·
Optics
and Lens Industry
·
Biotechnology
·
Food
and beverages Industry
Cleanroom Market:
The cleanroom market size has never shown a downwards trend as
the research and manufacturing processes are getting complex day by day and the
demand for higher quality and advanced products is increasing exponentially.
Due to this reason, there has been a sizeable growth in the cleanroom market. he
global cleanroom technology market size was estimated at USD 3.7 billion in
2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%
from 2020 to 2027. Technological advancement, stringent regulatory standards,
and increased demand in pharma and biopharmaceutical companies to develop
quality products are some of the major factors fuelling the market for
cleanroom technology.
