feature Sustenance of Clean Room Conditions By Rashmi Nagabhushan Director, Thermadyne Pvt. Ltd., Faridabad the drain if cleanliness levels are not maintained on a I aks of Rupees spent in installing a clean room can go down continuous basis. Personnel training and discipline are the key factors. Sustenance guide lines should be followed both in letter and spirit. Clean room discipline can make a success or a failure of a clean facility. People must be motivated and trained to achieve clean- work habits and follow timely maintenance practices Indoor air quality is of paramount importance for human comfort and health, Similarly, indoor air quality of manufacturing facilities plays a vital role in the yield and quality of many products. There has been a great deal of advancement in building clean rooms suitable for different applications. Many individual national standards and now international ISO standards are available which define cleanliness classes and measuring procedures for their compliance. Guide lines are also available on the cleanliness levels required for various manufacturing facilities. Expertise now exists to achieve even Class 10 and Class 1. But little is said as to how to sustain the built cleanliness. In fact, by and large, the contract between the customer and contractor ison satisfying the ‘as built’ or ‘at rest’ requirements. And in most cases itis found that cleanliness levels in operational conditions are considerably poorer and some times ‘About the Author Rashmi Nagabhushanisan MTech rom fT Delhi and has over 20 years experience in various capacities in group companies of Continental Device India Lid She has been associated with ‘Thermacyne Pvt. Ld, the complete cleanroom company, forthe last 13 years. may lead to conflicts between the two parties. First and foremost, many factors are required to be taken into consideration before designing and installing clean rooms to ensure achievement and sustenance of clean room conditions. Some of the important ones are listed below Factors to be Considered at the Design Stage * Type of industry (to determine class of cleanliness). * Contamination generation by process, abrasion or by constructional materials. * Occupancy and physical activity level * Contamination level in the surrounding areas. Presence of heated surfaces Equipment lay-out in the room. Process exhausts. Future expansion plan. Statutory requirements Having given due consideration to the above factors and achieving the desited conditions at start-up why do most facilities fail to sustain the desired cleanliness levels on a long term basis? The reasons sound very trivial, but their impact is unbelievable. The unhappy situation can be largely Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Journal attributed to lack of personnel discipline which results in many short comings and ultimately in the failure of the clean room. If however the following practices are followed we ean save the situation, Steps to be Taken after ‘Clean Room Installation Personnel training * Proper maintenance of air conditioning systems and other clean air systems to ensure that required air quantity is supplied on a continuous basis, ‘Timely cleaning changing offilters, again to ensure that designed clean air quantity is maintained ‘Proper and continued use of change room entry equipment Proper gowning Clean room discipline ‘Scheduled cleaning of clean rooms. Strict observance of equipment maintenance practices for clean ‘+ Regular monitoring of clean room conditions Some guide lines are available on the above which have been highlighted atthe end however due to lack of appreciation of cause and effect, people tend to take them lightly thus causing degradation of facilities Being a clean-room company, installing and validating clean rooms, we have first hand experiences on the main culprits which lead to problems of sustenance of aircleanliness. To give you an insight into some of the problems, afew case studies ae listed below. % Oct-Dec. 2001 $3CASE STUDY - 1 A class 10,000 facility was successfully installed. On revalidation after 6 months, particle counts were found to be in the range of2to 3 lakhs. It was observed that clean-room gowning procedures were not being followed properly, specially in terms of shoes. The surrounding area of the building also had rubble and people were bringing in a lot of dirt. The situation was worsened by the constant movement of people inside the clean ‘A thorough cleaning-up of the area, proper gowning and proper changing of clean room slippers brought back the clean conditions. See Table 1. CASE STUDY - 2 In another case filters choked unevenly due to dampers not being provided independently foreach filter. The choked filters i.e. four out of twelve were replaced. This resulted in most of the air coming through the new filters resulting in pockets of unclean area and also, generally a Designed Class 10,000 Number of Hepa filters - 16 (0.5; and above particle count (Average) Production] Change Observations ‘Area | Room Ar Sareup 3220] — 3100] Within specified limits ‘After 6 months | 210000 | 350,000 | Dirty shoes insice change room, Gowning improper. Airshower not sed propels Skepers washed once in a motih, Wer tap inside change room. Aver one year | 170,000 | 294,000 | Shoes outside change room. Rest same as above Afeer 15 yeas | 81,000 | 140,000 | Dresses in garment storage cabinet, new dreses. Three times floor leaning (wet). Worker discipline bet. Afeer2 years | 14,000 | 34,000 | Air curtain at change room entrance Proper discipline Aftor2.5 years | 6600 | 32000 Filers not changed. Afeer3 yeas | 4930 | 14300 [= mrs higher count due to turbulence caused by high velocity through clean filters. See Figure 1. CASE STUDY - 3 ‘One small company asked us to do their clean-room validation. We found the particle counts to be high. On investigating we found that out of four terminal Hepa ilterstwo were replaced 1 2) 3 4 Tavs 09 mis 09 mis Tile 2mis 2s 2mis 2 mis 5 8 Tw OF we OT mp OT mis 2m 13 més 13s 13s 9 WW 12 09 mie OT mis T mie Tims 2m 13/5 2s Dims ‘Out of 12 filters, 4 filters replaced with new because of lower velocities (data in blue colour). Air supply adjusted by AHU damper to give 1.3 m/sec velocity in new filters (data in red colour), velocity in other filters reduced to 2 msec. Figure I~ See ease study 2 54 Ale Conditioning and Retrig ton Journal ® Oct-Dec, 2001 Table I ~ See case study 1 by fine filters after choking. Since the air discharge from the filters was through perforated grilles it took us some time to figure out the problem. CASE STUDY - 4 Filters were choked and sufficient air quantity was not reaching the area, resulting in negative pressure inside the area. Each time the entry door was opened, ditty air was coming in, The problem was accentuated as an aalitional exhaust was fixed for a new process machine which was not taken into consideration in the inital design. CASE STUDY - 5 An otherwise satisfactory facility failed miserably on startup. It was found that machines were crowding the clean room very badly and not allowing proper air flow. Besides, unclean compressed air was being used freely, resulting in a ‘oral collapse of the clean area. CASE STUDY - 6 Window air conditioners were added subsequently to supplement cooling of an existing clean facility. Installation was done very poorly leaving gaps between the air conditioner and the window cut out. Also some unfiltered fresh air was continued om page 57continued from page 54 getting added through the window aie conditioner. CASE STUDY - 7 In another case a good clean room (Class 10,000) deteriorated badly due to influx of additional people and machinery to cope with the sudden increase in production capacity CASE STUDY - 8 ‘One laboratory which was near a railway line developed cracks in the ceiling due to vibration and resulted in high particle count. A patch up did help but ultimately the lahoratory had to be shifted to another location. CASE STUDY - 9 A satisfactory clean facility detiorated within six months. A thorough investigation revealed that the fan used in the air handling unit did not have the dsited static pressure capability. Inadequate clean air supply resulted in negative pressure and ruining ofthe facility Other Observations In some cases cracking and detaching of sealing compound in Hepa filters with time was found to bea major reason of failure * In a number of eases, damaged Hepa filters were found to be in use in spite of the concerned people boeing aware that this would cause problems, + While choked fiters are replaced, their installation does not get adequate attention due to inadequate training of maintenance staff. Thus we get cither diy clean rooms or quickly choked Hepa filters. Validation is not done at regular intervals. Ifyou don’t monitor the clean room, you can sit pretty without any warning tll you collect losses due to rejection of products + In many cases even at the first validation, intial results are poor Buta through cleaning of the area invariably results in the designed class of cleanliness. Recommendations for Maintaining Existing Clean Room Conditions in the Clean Room Area Only authorised personnel should enter the clean rooms. * Nobody should be allowed into the clean room without wearing clean room garments including cap and clean shoes/chappals properly. 4 Alvways stayin the “air shower" for a specified time before entering clean rooms * After the use of garments and shoes, these should be kept at a proper place, Never go into “non- clean” areas from change room with garments or shoes. * Do not walk into a clean room unless necessary, Smoking in the clean room and change room is prohibited. * Do not take contamination producing material like tobacco, food, match boxes, purses cosmetics, card boards and unnecessary papers inside the clean areas. Also do not apply cosmetics in the clea «+ Donotshagpen pencils in che clean room and use a ball point pen only © Wear gloves and finger cots whenever required. ‘* Donot touch contaminated articles orsurfaces after wearing finger cots! loves. * Do not scratch your head or rub ‘your nals inside the elean room or change room and keep finger nals clean. * Do not take personal items into clean room, keep them in lockers provided. + Keep your work table clean. * Clean f change filters in the air conditioning system as and when required, # Never sweep the clean room floor, vacuum them or wet mop them as per frequency specified # Clean walls, ceilings and furniture asper frequency specified with wet mop. * Garments should be washed as per frequency specified. * Cleanall furniture, equipment and raw material packages ete. properly before taking into clean room. * Do minimum maintenance of ‘equipment inside the clean room. Take the equipment outside the clean room for maintenance. ‘+ Unpacking of the machinery required for the clean areas should be done outside the clean room. Clean room discipline which covers all the points listed earlier and above can matke a success or a failure of a clean facility. People must be motivated and trained to achieve clean work habits and follow timely maintenance practices. ° /, Indust ‘Mumbai - 400 060 Tet Baltimore Airco World Leader in Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, Process and Power Generation Cooling RAISING THE STANDARD OF HEAT TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY Products Cooling Towers, Evaporative Condensors, Closed Circult Cooling “Thermal Storage Systems Contact BACAIR COOLING COMPANY 122, Hema Industrial Estate, Sarvodaya Nagar, Jogeshwari (E), 824 5714 + Fax: 824 5713 So a lain oe ee ee ee