Cleanrooms
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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.Click here for more Information on Cleanroom Air Showers
Stringent cleanliness requirements make air showers a standa
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Terra Universal will certify its cleanrooms to guarantee “as built” compliance with cleanliness standards. What matters, though, is how the cleanroom performs in real world applications—in your application, with your personnel and processing equipment.
Careful consideration of these operating conditions will help you select the configuration that meets your requirements and fits your budget!
Cost vs. Coverage: Evaluating FFU Placement
The cleanest modular cleanroom incorporates filter/fan units (FFUs) in every 2' x 4' (610 mm x 1219 mm) ceiling bay. This near-100% ceiling coverage provides a laminar flow of filtered air to quickly remove contaminants from the cleanroom, meeting ISO 3 or ISO 4 (Federal Standard 209(E) Class 1 or Class 10) environments (depending on the filter types selected, HEPA or ULPA).
Of course, 100% ceiling coverage requires substantial investme
Read more »Hidden Costs of Acrylic Enclosures
Compared to acrylic, static-dissipative PVC offers three benefits that reduce operating expenses and drive down overall ownership cost of a clean room, glove box, hood, desiccator, or other enclosure.
Contamination Control
Acrylic is a prolific static generator. The back-and-forth motion of wiping an acrylic surface creates positive and negative surface charges that attract and hold small particles.
The resulting static cling makes it difficult to remove contaminants from the charged surfaces without the use of ionizing equipment or frequent cleaning with special anti-static solutions. Variations in the surface charges can lead to unpredictabl
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What is BSL?
Biological Safety Level (BSL) is a biocontainment designation system with requirements intended to protect personnel from potentially harmful pathogenic exposure in a research or manufacturing environment.
What are the differences among the BSL designations?
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) specifies four broad Biological Safety Levels, each of which corresponds to a level of exposure danger and a set of design features and operational protocol. Each increasing level builds on the previous level(s):
- BSL-1: Required in the presence of microbes that do not consistently cause disease, such as E. coli. Work can be done on an open bench, and minimal Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) is required. Doors separate the BSL-1 lab from the rest of the facility.
- BSL-2: Required in th
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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
Read more »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 regu
Read more »Pharmacy compounders have a lot of factors to consider when making the decision to go into the business of mixing individual prescriptions, particularly those considered “hazardous.” It can be a lucrative operation, but one which is closely overseen. For good reason, though: mistakes in the recent past have taught us that sloppy procedures, partly resulting from a lack of regulations, can have deadly consequences.
Once you’ve make the commitment to move forward with your compounding pharmacy business model, you have to understand your responsibilities (and the associated costs) regarding equipment and furnishings. What used to be true for minimum “engineering controls” is no longer good enough, and regulators will make sure that pharmacies comply.
Click here for more USP resources. Find out what is required, base
Read more »Particles, particles everywhere! What is a lab to do? Sources of these contaminating specks are many: equipment, room materials, unfiltered air, bacteria and mold, clothing, and (the biggest culprit of all) people. Facilities make heroic efforts to keep the adulterants at bay, but some amount of contaminants will find their way into the controlled space.
Until processes become fully automated, personnel will still need to step into cleanrooms to perform application-specific tasks and service equipment. Best practices guide these workers, but it’s impossible to contain every particle that’s just begging to float around the room or land on surfaces.
Read more »Flammable gasses and vapors possess the potential to cause devastating damage to personnel, property and the environment. To minimize this danger, organizations including Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) develop standards, such as the National Electric Code (NEC), by which many industries operate. Explosions still occur, but damage can be minimized by using documented protocol for managing them. Companies involved with pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, fuel, chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, aviation, and other high-risk applications have to abide by these established safety practices.
In each group of flammable-material type (gas/vapor, powder or fiber) the NEC categorizes risky environments based on this basic formula: material’s duration of use + its flammability potential = likelihood for fire. Equipment is designed
Read more »Windows give us a view of the environment on the “other” side of the wall, whether looking out from an enclosed room, or looking into it. In a controlled cleanroom, windows are a source of ambient light, and help to “expand” the space, making it feel less restrictive and relieving worker claustrophobia. Practically speaking, they also allow personnel to see when the critical environment is in use, and what activities are being performed.
Windows are more complex than a simple pane of glass. Anyone responsible for wiping down a cleanroom can appreciate how troublesome nooks and crannies can be! Contaminating particles can collect on framing, sills and fasteners, complicating the sanitizing process. Terra’s stainless steel BioSafe® cleanroom windows are designed to reduce cracks and horizontal surfaces, making disinfection easier and faster.
