Cleanrooms

The difference between isolation and containment typically identifies the type of airflow design within the environment. In practice, a cleanroom may require both positive and negative pressure systems within a single cleanroom suite.

- An isolation cleanroom is a positive pressure room appropriate for ultra-clean processes, aseptic workflows, pharmaceutical compounding, and biologically sensitive applications.

- A containment cleanroom is a negative or neutral pressure room that typically exhausts contaminated air to an outside area to prevent operational exposure to toxic, potent, or noxious substances.

A HEPA fan filter unit (FFU) is a crucial component of every cleanroom environment. Making the correct decision as to which type of FFU is the most appropriate for your application is not something to simply gloss over. There are two main categories of motorized fan filter units: permanent split capacitors (PSC) and electronically commutated motors (ECM). Both types of fan filter modules provide a perfunctory standard for any cleanroom, but differ by way of efficiency, durability and cost. PSC systems save you money upfront and are ideal for small, consistent projects. However, when considering longer endeavors, especially those with ever-changing circumstances, the ECM will pay for itself with energy savings. For instance, in California at an average of 14.47 cents per kilowatt hour, you would make the difference between the higher upfront costs of the ECM over the PSC bac

In addition to face masks, properly maintained air filters remain crucial in confined indoor spaces to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 virus). Both HEPA filters and ULPA filters reduce the number of microscopic particles in the air, which can keep air safe to breathe in places it’s needed most like hospitals, isolation rooms and crowded indoor areas.

COVID-19 virus spreads through the air on respiratory droplets created from talking, coughing, sneezing, and even breathing. When these activities occur in a populated space with stale air, the likelihood of transmission can significantly increase, as COVID-19 has been proven to remain viable for at least 3 hours lingering in the air or on surfaces up to four meters away from its last host.

Masks and social distancing significantly reduce the chance of the virus’s spread

The last thing you need is your lab equipment rusting out on you. When considering your specific application needs for new stainless steel equipment, a recurring question in the market remains—what’s the difference between 304 and 316? When should you consider 316? In scenarios demanding the utmost vigilance, you may discover you require 316L stainless steel.

304 Stainless steel is composed of 18% chromium and 8% nickel. 316 Stainless steel is made up of chromium and nickel at 16% and 10% respectively, but also includes molybdenum—a silvery-white metal that’s highly resistant to corrosion.

316L Stainless steel contains the same corrosion-resistant materials as 316, but includes the added benefit of a lower carbon content—eliminating the opportunity for excessive metallic contamination and making cracking less likely. Both 316 and 316L are able to withstand chlorides and chlorinated solutions, such as Spor-Klenz® and Isopropyl Acetate

Air showers are chambers or tunnels used to decontaminate personnel via air jets as they enter or exit a cleanroom. By using pressurized jet nozzle air streams, air showers blow contaminating particles away from people or items that enter, then filter pollutants and redirect the clean air out of the chamber. The showers are placed at the entrances of cleanrooms or other controlled environments to secure the biggest potential containment breach, minimizing the danger to workers or products.

Terra Universal is the leading expert in the design and fabrication of critical-environment applications. We offer a complete range of equipment, furnishing and supplies for cleanrooms and laboratories. The following are the rigorous standards to which Terra Universal adheres.

Before global cleanroom classifications and standards were adopted by the International Standards Organization (ISO), the U.S. General Service Administration’s standards (known as FS209E) were applied virtually worldwide. However, as the need for international standards grew, the ISO established a technical committee and several working groups to delineate its own set of standards.

FS209E contains six classes, while the ISO 14644-1 classification system adds two cleaner standards and one dirtier standard (see chart below). The "cleanest" cleanroom in FS209E is referred to as Class 1; the "dirtiest" cleanroom is a

Cleanrooms are a large investment, putting a lot of responsibility and pressure on the owner and project engineers. As with any large investment, the aspiration is to formulate the perfect design the first time. While those expectations may be high, facilities can reduce time and expenses with careful planning and strict project management practices. There are also many considerations to make in the cleanroom’s pre-planning stage. Such as?

The first step in planning a cleanroom is to concretely identify the primary goals and applications. Often this depends on the industry for which the cleanroom will be used. There are several questions to answer: How will the cleanroom be used? What ISO cleanliness regulations must be met? What equipment is needed (e.g. hoods, gloveboxes, storage cabinets or packaging machinery)? What is the maximum number of workers that will be inside the room at peak time? A regulatory manager will be able to help with some o