Cleanrooms not so long ago seemed to be the domain solely of large hospitals and laboratories. Today they are becoming a requirement in many industries, present even in small manufacturing companies.
The necessity for high air cleanliness is often associated with high-technology production, high quality, or with the sheer sophistication of the products being manufactured. These reasons are typical for technical industries – such as electronics manufacturing and the cosmetics industry. Cleanrooms are also crucial wherever the highest standards of sterility must be maintained – such as pharmaceutical production, laboratory operations, and increasingly the food and related industries.
Cleanrooms are isolated spaces where, through the use of appropriate filtration and ventilation systems and usage procedures, specific air cleanliness parameters are maintained.
These factors are driving increasing market demand for the construction of clean zones. These activities can be, and are, largely carried out by subcontractors in the construction industry – as well as by those involved themselves – but often require the use of specialized elements, such as appropriate airlocks, filter fans or feeder windows.
However, implementers of these projects in the country are currently clashing with the lack of availability, long waiting times and poor quality of these essential components.
RENEX Group – one of Poland’s largest and longest-established electronics companies – is meeting these needs with its CLEANROOM – CLEANSYS. The company manufactures cleanroom infrastructure (e.g., feeder windows according to the customer’s individual design), as well as supplies ready-made structural elements – available thanks to high stock levels mostly off-the-shelf – with delivery within 7 days.
The following is a selection of specialized items that are currently in the highest demand among subcontractors executing cleanroom remodeling projects.
Airshower personal locks. These are ready-to-install, actively operating devices allowing users to cut a passageway and separate two zones with different levels of cleanliness. The most popular model – CR-GAS-004 – has approximate overall dimensions of 1000x1400x2200 mm and allows one person to pass through in one cycle. Devices of this type consist of two doors arranged in a line and a supply chamber placed between them. A person passing from one zone to another enters the interior of the airlock. When the door is closed, an automatic supply of filtered air directed at it is activated. The air passes through a pre-filter and a HEPA filter and is blown at high pressure – at a speed of 23-25m/s – from 12 nozzles (6 on each side) toward the person being treated in the airlock. It is then partially used in a re-vacuum cycle. The cycle lasts depending on the settings selected – from a few to several tens of seconds – and is controlled by buttons on a control panel located inside the airlock. Once the cycle is complete, the door unlocks. Naturally, however, it is possible to open only one door (the so-called “cross door opening protection”). In case of an emergency, the airlock is equipped with 3 safety switches located outside (at each door) and inside the unit on the control panel.
Feed windows – ready-to-install devices that allow the transfer of items between zones with different levels of cleanliness. Three types of this device are available:
– passive
– active (over- or under-pressure)
– and active with built-in internal air purification system, filtered with absolute HEPA filter.
The device in its basic, passive version consists of a pair of staggered doors and a chamber between them. Thanks to the use of cross protection, only one of the doors can be opened at a time.
The active (pressure) version allows users to connect the device to the supply and exhaust system operating in the building. Using constant discharge dampers, either increased or decreased pressure is achieved inside the unit relative to adjacent rooms. Proper adjustment of the pressure level in the separated rooms and inside the supply window allows to maintain the required level of cleanliness. Depending on the needs, such sequences are set up as a cascade, where room one has a lower pressure than inside the airlock, and room two (behind the airlock) has a higher pressure, or as a buffer, where the airlock has either a higher or lower pressure than the adjacent rooms. The third type of these devices – thanks to a built-in pre-filtration and HEPA system – allows a constant (i.e., forced) even flow of air from top to bottom. Air is collected by means of a perforation located at the bottom of the chamber, where it is sucked in again, resulting in closed circulation. No positive pressure is generated in the working chamber (the same amount of air is sucked out as is blown in).
Filter fans – ready-to-install devices combining in one module a fan with a pre-filter and HEPA filter. The main purpose of the device is to be installed in rooms with increased cleanliness, especially above workstations as a laminar (non-turbulent air supply). Devices of this type allow to achieve proper air cleanliness in a specific zone, such as a sampling space. The module is conventionally mounted in properly prepared ceiling frames and weighs about 35 kg. A similar solution – for smaller-scale applications – are laminar chambers. They allow to achieve the right air quality on the working surface. They consist of a work table and a filter-fan module placed above it. The space of the worktop is closed on three sides – allowing the user to freely access and work under the blow of filtered air. Devices of this type are particularly suitable for working on sensitive objects.
Cleanboxes – universal and mobile cleanrooms. They make it possible to obtain inside a building – e.g. a hall – in an easy way a separated space with increased cleanliness. They are an alternative to the construction of entire cleanrooms allowing to achieve very similar, and often identical, results. The most popular models have approximate internal dimensions of 2000×2500 mm or 2500×2500 mm with 2200 mm height. Modules of this type are equipped with an integrated air filtration system and provide the most versatile and fastest solution to the problem of building high cleanliness zones.
The equipment and products listed above represent only a small part of the RENEX Group – CLEANROOM offer.
Under its REECO brand, RENEX Group is also a manufacturer of anti-static industrial furniture and clothing for use in specialized spaces such as laboratories, electronics production areas (EPA), and cleanrooms.
The Group also supplies customized products and performs a comprehensive range of construction, maintenance, cleaning and inspection services for clean zones.
The above mentioned and other products from the RENEX Group offer can be tested in action at the RENEX TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING CENTER in Wloclawek.
If you are interested, please contact RENEX Technical and Sales Advisors – dth@renex.pl