QUESTION:
Which cleanroom classification do I need? (Part 1)
Answered By: Tim Loughran
One of the most important factors that you have to determine when constructing a cleanroom is what size of particle you will need to filter out. Is it any size particle? Is it a specific size or range of particles? Most often you find that people look at the cleanroom classification and they go to the lowest level particle count to determine what classification they need.
An example of this would be someone that requires less than 100 particles per square foot within their clean room, and as a result determines that they need an ISO 5 (or class 100) cleanroom. But if that particle is 1/2 micron in size, or 5 micron in size, that would be a significant difference. So if they think they’re looking at a ½ micron sized-particle, but really the particle that is a problem for them is a 5 micron particle – From a cleanroom classification, this doesn’t translate to an ISO 5 cleanroom (or class 100). This actually translates into an ISO 8 cleanroom (or class 100,000).
Continue to Which Cleanroom Classification Do I Need? (Part 2)