Cleanroom

Cleanroom

A cleanroom or clean room is a controlled environment that has a low level of pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, and chemical vapors. Cleanrooms are used in practically every industry where small particles can adversely affect the manufacturing process. They vary in size and complexity, and are extensively used in industries such as pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, biotech, medical device and life sciences, as well as critical process manufacturing common in aerospace, optics, military and Department of Energy.

Design and construction

A cleanroom is typically designed to maintain extremely low levels of particulates, such as dust, airborne organisms, or vaporized particles. Cleanrooms can be very large, and are used extensively in semiconductor fabrication, biotechnology, the life sciences, and other fields that are very sensitive to environmental contamination.

The key component is the High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter that is used to trap particles that are 0.3 micron and larger in size. All of the air delivered to a cleanroom passes through HEPA filters, and in some cases where stringent cleanliness performance is necessary, Ultra Low Particulate Air (ULPA) filters are used.

Classification and standards

Cleanrooms are classified according to the number and size of particles permitted per volume of air. Large numbers such as "class 100" or "class 1000" refer to FED-STD-209E, and denote the number of particles of size 0.5 µm or larger permitted per cubic foot of air. The standard also allows interpolation, so it is possible to describe e.g. "class 2000".

Cleanroom software engineering

Cleanroom software engineering is a process for developing and certifying high-reliability software. Combining theory-based engineering technologies in project management, incremental development, software specification and design, correctness verification, and statistical quality certification, Cleanroom aims to enable software development teams to deliver products that are essentially zero-defect.

See also

• Airborne particulate cleanliness class
• Contamination control
• Environmental microbiology
• ISO 14644
• Laminar flow cabinet