Clean Room One-stop Solution Provider

Clean Room: The Ultimate FAQ Guide

Zonsteel is a top brand when it comes to manufacturing clean rooms. We have been doing so for over two decades now. With our experience, you can end up with the best clean room.

For those that might be new to clean rooms, we have come up with a ultimate FAQ guide to get you started. We look at clean rooms in general and how they can be used in various applications.

Let us get into the guide.

What Is a Clean Room?

Figure 1: Clean Room

A clean room can be defined as a space where the concentration of the airborne particles is classified and regulated.

So, a clean room will be designed in a way to minimize the introduction, retention, and generation of such particles in a space. Depending on the particle regulation in the clean room, the room gets a specific ISO standard.

We will look at the ISO clean room standards later in the guide for you to learn more about them.

 

What Are Clean Rooms Used for?

 

Figure 2: Clean Room Use

A cleanroom is a controlled environment where pollutants like dust, airborne microbes, and aerosol particles are filtered out in order to provide the cleanest area possible. Most cleanrooms are used for manufacturing products such as electronics, pharmaceutical products, and medical equipment.

 

How Does a Clean Room Work?

Figure 3: Positive-pressure Clean Room

Before you can buy a clean room from Zonsteel, you would want to know how it works. There are two major types of clean room working principles. They include positive pressure rooms and the negative pressure rooms.

About 90% of all the clean rooms are positive-pressure rooms. This means that they are designed to keep the contaminants from getting into the clean room.

In such clean rooms, the air is introduced at the ceiling level then it is passed through a HEPA filter run by a fan. This will remove as much particles as possible mostly of size smaller than 0.5 microns.

The air filtration process will create a pressurized room whereby the air pressure in the room becomes greater than what is outside the clean room. This is now what leads to positive pressure. At this point, the contaminants in the air and the air get pushed down towards the flow and then out through the vents in the lower parts of the clean room.

This process is repeated all the time so that at any time, you will have air and its contaminants flowing out of the clean room constantly. The best part is that the air exiting the room remains at a pressure that is enough to prevent any contaminants from getting into the clean room through the vents or when the doors are opened.

Now there is also the negative-pressure clean rooms. They are the opposite of the positive-pressure ones mentioned above as they are designed to keep any contaminants from leaving the clean room.

Such a clean room is mostly used in instances where infectious diseases and pathogens have to be contained. The same applies to bio contaminants, chemicals, flammables, and other related stuff from getting out.

For the case of negative-pressure room, the air is pulled out of the clean room using reversed HEPA filters. This results in having negative pressure in the clean room. The buildup of negative pressure in the clean room prevents the contaminants from getting out.

You should now have an idea of which clean room type would be ideal for you depending on the application that you want to handle.

 

Why Should You Choose Zonsteel Clean Rooms?

Figure 4: Finished Clean Room

With many other clean room manufacturers, some people might be wondering, what is so special about Zonsteel clean rooms? Below are some of the reason you might want to consider getting our clean rooms.

✦ Experienced Clean Room Design Team: Since Zonsteel has been designing and manufacturing clean rooms for over twenty years now, there is a strong and experienced design team available. Such a team would have all the technical experience to advise the client on which clean room would be ideal for their application. It is not just advising, but also building one for the client.

✦ Multiple Clean Room Grades Available: When looking to buy a clean room, you want the best grade that suits your application. Well, Zonsteel is an expert in making different clean room grades such as clean room grade a, b, c, d. Whichever type of clean room you need, we can make it happen.

✦ Clean Room Components and Equipment Manufacture: A clean room would not be complete without the equipment, furniture, and other components. To make your work easier, that is something that we also do for you. Zonsteel wide production line can offer you one-stop best clean room components all the time.

✦ Completed Lots of Clean Room Projects: Zonsteel over the years has completed lots of projects revolving around clean rooms. This includes sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, food, energy, labs, and more. This is to show that we can deliver clean rooms for different industries.

✦ Reliable Build Quality: Another thing you will like about the Zonsteel clean rooms is the build quality. We have been handling clean rooms for years now to understand the importance of making a highly dependable unit. The result is that you can always rely on our clean rooms to last for years down the line.

 

What Are the ISO Standards for Rating Cleanrooms?

Before ISO standards, the industry was regulated by the Federal Standard 209E for the clean rooms. Fast forward to 2001, that is when ISO standards were adopted for the whole world. Right now, it is the norm to have the clean rooms classified based on the ISO standards.

On overall, ISO standards have been a major boost to the clean room industry. Manufacturers can now make different types of clean rooms depending on the client needs. For each class, you can now get multiple types of clean rooms.

Below are the ISO standard classes with their equivalent Federal Standards equivalents. As much as the Federal Standards were canceled back in 2001, they are still widely referenced, so it is just good to know about them.

Class	maximum particles/m3						FED STD 209E equivalent
	>=0.1 µm	>=0.2 µm	>=0.3 µm	>=0.5 µm	>=1 µm	>=5 µm
ISO 1	10	2
ISO 2	100	24	10	4
ISO 3	1,000	237	102	35	8		Class 1
ISO 4	10,000	2,370	1,020	352	83		Class 10
ISO 5	100,000	23,700	10,200	3,520	832	29	Class 100
ISO 6	1,000,000	237,000	102,000	35,200	8,320	293	Class 1,000
ISO 7				352,000	83,200	2,930	Class 10,000
ISO 8				3,520,000	832,000	29,300	Class 100,000
ISO 9				35,200,000	8,320,000	293,000	Room Air

It is recommended that you refer to ISO Standards when talking of clean rooms as they are internationally accepted. People in different countries might not be conversant with the Federal Standards.

 

Where Can You Use the Zoonsteel Clean Rooms?

Figure 5: Clean Room Use for Electronics

The clean room applications are vast. It just comes down to what the client needs. That being said, Zonsteel makes clean rooms for different industries such as IT, pharmaceuticals, food, new energy, lab applications, and more.

Let us say that the client wants to set up an assembly plant for IT related components such as hard drives. We all know that dust and hard drives cannot work well. We will be able to set up a clean room to help such a client get the operations up and running.

The pharmaceuticals industry is known for its cleanliness. The last thing you need is to have medication that is exposed to contaminants. Whether it is manufacturing or storage, you always need to get the best clean room for the application. As such, we can tailor the clean room to work great for your application.

Clean rooms for new energy are mostly for research purposes. Maybe you are working on a project that needs isolation from the other conditions to find out its suitability in the real world. We can make clean rooms to suit your needs for a research center. This ensures your research goes on smoothly.

There is no doubt that lab applications are the common areas where you can find a clean room. It can be any type of clean whether it is to keep the contaminants from getting in or getting out. The idea is to create an environment that is safe to conduct various lab experiments.

 

What Type of Clean Room Solutions Does Zonsteel Offer?

Right now, you might be interested in Zonsteel clean rooms. However, you would want to know more about what other solutions does Zonsteel offer to the user revolving around clean rooms. Here are some of the things to expect when seeking Zonsteel clean room solutions.

✦ Clean Room Design: Zonsteel will help you a lot in the design process. This is because we understand that different people will have different needs. The aim is then to come up with clean rooms that can work great for the client correctly. With our experienced design team, you will have all the information that you need for the design of a clean room.

Figure 6: Clean Room Design

✦ Clean Room Manufacturing: After you have gone through the design process and you find that it is something that you want, we will move onto the manufacturing part. You will not have to seek another company to handle the manufacturing process. We will do all that for you from start to finish. We also have the best materials for manufacturing to ensure that the clean room is highly durable.

Figure 7: Clean Room Component

✦ The Clean Room Equipment: Having the clean room equipment is important to make the clean room fully functional. The most common equipment you will need include air shower, sampling booth, AHU unit, pass box, laminar flow hood, weighing room, Hepa Box, and more. Zonsteel manufactures those equipment with high quality raw material and skillful workmanship.

Figure 8: Clean Room Equipment

✦ Clean Room Furniture: Yes, you also need the right clean room furniture to be able to use it. The furniture can vary a lot depending on the user needs. Some of the furniture options will include clean room shelving, stainless steel basin, clean room tables, and clean room benches. Talk to us to learn more about the clean room furniture that would be ideal for your clean room.

Figure 9: Clean Room Furniture

✦ Clean Room Installation: Once you contract Zonsteel for a clean room manufacturing, we will also do the installation. It does not matter where you are located as we also offer overseas installation. The aim is to make our clients feel comfortable with the clean rooms we make and subsequently do the installation.

Figure 10: Clean Room Installation

 

What Are the Clean Room Equipment Available at Zonsteel?

If you are new to clean rooms, then it must be interesting to know more about the clean room equipment. You do not have to buy all the equipment at once, but only get the necessary ones first.

The most common clean room equipment that Zonsteel makes include the following;

✦  Air shower

✦  AHU unit

✦  Pass box

✦  Commercial ozone generator

✦  Sampling booth

✦  Fan filter unit

✦  Clean room air filter

✦  Laminar flow hood

✦  Weighing room

✦  HEPA box

An air shower is a general-purpose clean room equipment mostly set up between a clean room and the non-clean room area. It is then used as a passage for people to use before getting into the clean room. The air shower main aim to remove the dust that people or cargo carry before getting into the clean room.

The AHU unit has a fan and motors important for handling the several stages of air purification before getting into the clean room. The processes include air mixing, cooling, heating, filtration, noise dampening, and humidification.

Another notable equipment is the fan filter unit. This clean room equipment is the engine that drives the clean room system. It has a HEPA filter and a fan unit combined to filter the air before it gets into the clean room. The FFU will send the air at a constant speed to ensure the right circulation in the clean room. Any clean room is likely to have a fan filter unit setup.

As the name suggests, the HEPA box is an important equipment for handling the air in the clean room. Its additional function includes obtaining the right static pressure for the air that goes through the high efficiency filter. This type of equipment is common in hospitals, precision machinery, optics, and more.

If you want more information about the other clean room equipment, our technical team is ready to respond to the questions. Simply get in touch and we will help you further.

 

What Components of Clean Rooms Does Zonsteel Manufactures?

Figure 11: Clean Room Component the Door

Zonsteel has been making clean rooms for years now. So, it is expected that such a brand will have different types of clean room components available for sale. Some people might not know what makes up as clean room components. Well, we are here to help you learn more.

The most common clean room components that Zonsteel makes includes the clean room panels, clean room doors, elevated floors, and clean room windows. These are all the essential components that will help in setting up the clean room and make it work perfectly.

We use high quality materials when making these clean room components. Such clean rooms have to be in use for many years. As a result, these components are built to live up to different conditions wherever the clean room is set up.

For those who might be in the market for modular clean rooms, that is something we can do. A modular clean room will allow the user to expand the clean room whenever the need arises. That is something we can take you through as one of our clean room components.

The common question that people would have is how long it takes to make these clean room components. Depending on the component, it can anywhere between 7 to 15 days from ordering to completion. We can say that it will be a quick turnaround time for anyone who might want the clean room components available for installation.

If you want custom clean room components, just know we are available to help you get them. We have a team of designers who understand the clean room components better and can guide you to picking the right one for your application.

 

What Are Some of the Clean Room Furniture Types Available at Zonsteel?

Figure 12: Clean Room Furniture SS Basin

There is no doubt that the clean room is not complete without its furniture. The furniture is important for people to find a place to work, sit, and store different equipment.

The most common clean room furniture you can get at Zonsteel include clean room shelving, stainless steel basin, clean room tables, and clean room benches.

Looking at all the clean room furniture from Zonsteel, we find that they are made of stainless steel material. This type of material is good for the clean room environment as it can live up to the clean room conditions. It does not corrode and can remain clean for longer.

It is also easier to clean stainless steel material on overall. We cannot forget about the durability too. It is expected that such clean room furniture would have a lifespan of over 15 years even with regular use. There is no doubt anyone would feel it was a worthy investment when it can last all those years.

The clean room furniture can also be custom made to suit your needs. Yes, we already have the standard sizes of these clean room furniture. This does not mean we cannot tailor them to suit you better. An example is when you want smaller or larger benches. That is something we can do.

The furniture mentioned above is just but a few. If you want more clean room furniture, we are ready to provide you with a complete catalogue. It should give you access to the subcategories too of your favorite clean room furniture mentioned above.

 

How Much Will It Cost to Set Up a Clean Room from Zonsteel?

The question of cost comes up more often but we have to advise our clients that one clean room cannot cost as the same as another one. This is because there is a lot of customization, design, and manufacturing that go into the clean room. All of that varies from one unit to another.

To help you know the exact cost of your clean room, we would advise you to get in touch with our sales team to guide you further. Once we have your clean room specifications, then we will have all the information that we need to do a proper pricing of your clean room.

 

What Takes Up the Greatest Cost When Setting Up a Clean Room?

Figure 13: Clean Room AHU Unit

Other than the outer structure of the clean room, the greatest cost will go into the HVAC and HEPA systems. Depending on the type of clean room, we have to look at the air change per hour requirement. If you are in the market for a model with a higher air changes per hour figure, then you will have to spend more on the equipment that makes it possible.

The temperature and humidity can also have cost implications on your clean room. The idea is to keep the clean room within the right conditions all the time for it to maintain its clean room integrity. So, the cost of some components might be high while others might be low.

 

Does the ISO Classification Impact the Cost Of Building and Operating Clean Rooms?

Figure 14: Fan Filter Unit FFU Quantity

The ISO class level for a clean room determines how clean it should be. Of course, for it to be cleaner than the previous class, then it will cost more to include all the equipment to make this happen.

The way ISO class levels are arranged, a class would be 10 times cleaner than the class lower than it. So, if you move the clean room from class 7 to class 8, then it will need more air and other cleaning methods to make it better.

Opting for a higher class means that you invest more in air filtration and conditioning to achieve such status.

Other things that will determine the cost will include the overall square footage, humidity, the number of filters to do the job, and the energy use.

 

What Is the Best Way to Wipe Down Clean Room Surfaces?

As part of maintaining the clean room integrity, you will need to do proper wipe down to remove the dirt, dust, and grime from the surfaces. Here are some steps to follow when doing a surface wipe down of the clean room.

✦ Make sure to follow the laid-out site protocol for cleaning the clean room. This might include protocols on safety, contamination, and more. You need to wear clean room gloves to further protect yourself.

✦ Proceed to use the right clean room wipers to clean the surfaces. You can fold the wipers into quarter folds where necessary. This gives you more cleaning surfaces and still gives you a better contact with the surfaces you want to wipe.

✦ When wiping the surfaces, hold the folded edge to have a better grip and cover a wider area when wiping. Wipe in one direction to reduce spreading the dirt even further.

✦ Once you have wiped the whole surface, you will need to come back with clean wipers to finish off the surfaces.

✦ After completing the cleaning process, it is recommended that you dispose the wipers according the site protocols. Some of the wipers will have contaminants depending on what is done in the clean room, so a proper disposal is important.

This is just for the general wiping of the surfaces. You might also need to do more research about in-depth cleaning of the clean room. The additional cleaning of the clean room would need more supplies to ensure all the dirt is handled to leave you with a clean room in the right condition.

 

Can I Get Clean Room Spare Parts from Zonsteel?

Figure 15: Clean Room Equipment Production line

Yes. Zonsteel makes different types of clean rooms together with furniture and equipment. In case in future you want some spare parts for the clean room, simply contact us for more details.

There will be a sales representative who will help you get the right spare part for your clean room. A technical representative can also be involved where necessary so that you have the right information about the spare part that you need.

It does not even have to be a clean room made by Zonsteel. There are some parts that are common across different clean room types. We should be able to provide you with the right parts to have your clean room up and running again.

 

Conclusion

Zonsteel can provide one stop solution for clean room, from clean room design, components, equipment, furniture to installation.

If you have any more questions about Zonsteel clean rooms, we are always available to help you further. There are multiple ways you can get in touch with us including phone, email, and website contact form.

Our skilled customer support team will be ready to serve you with all the information that you need to learn more about Zonsteel clean rooms.