At the premises of VDL-ETG in Almelo our engineers succefully completed the construction of yet another modular softwall cleanroom. The floor area of this large cleanroom is more than 675m² and is connected by means of a corridor to the already existing cleanrooms. The entire project, consisting of Phase x1, x2, x3, now covers almost 1700m² of floor space, completely made up of modular softwall cleanroom. More detailed information about phase x1 and x2 in the case study.
The entire floor area of the softwall cleanrooms spreads across three interconnected manufacturing halls. The cleanroom will be utilized for the clean assembly and testing of large size high tech semiconductor modules. This cleanroom is also equipped with modern fan filters, which are very energy efficient and generate a minimal heat load. The fan filter units ensure optimum airflow within the cleanroom which resulted in an ISO class 5 validation in the as-built state! When fully furnished and operational a very clean working environment (better than ISO class 7) will be achieved with ease.
Because of prefabrication, modular cleanrooms have a shorter delivery time and can be efficiently installed on site. In case of changing needs in business or process, modular cleanrooms can be easily expanded, reduced in size, reorganised or moved, that is one of the reasons why VDL has selected our modular cleanroom system. The initial investment for a modular cleanroom is significantly lower than for traditional construction. The above properties result in time savings, flexibility and cost savings.
Due to the large dimensions of this cleanroom, it was decided to divide the fan filter units into 17 different groups/zones. Each group is connected to an individual differential pressure gauge, this allows VDL-ETG to check the condition of the HEPA-filters on a regular base and monitor the pressure build-up in the H14-HEPA filter.
- The indication of a lower pressure than normal may be due to a leaking HEPA filter. Allowing unfiltered particles to enter the cleanroom. If so: Contact our engineers
- The indication of a higher than normal pressure may be due to a clogged or saturated HEPA filter. Depending on the ambient air drawn into the fan filter unit, an average HEPA filter can last between 5 and 7 years until it becomes too saturated to continue filtering sufficiently. If so: Contact our engineers
The airflow in each zone can be individually adjusted to the desired speed. Larger objects such as furniture and tooling in the cleanroom can affect the airflow. In order to obtain a good flushing of the cleanroomroom and thus to remove the particles that are released during the cleaning process as much as possible, the laminar air flow from the fan filter units is set at the recommended air speed of 0.45 m/s (meters per second) on average. +/-20%.
Curious about how your cleanroom is performing? Please contact us and have one of our qualified CTCB-I engineers validate your cleanroom or flow cabinet. This is performed on the basis of a predetermined validation protocol, in which the quantity and size of the air paticles and velocity of the laminar airflow are measured. The number of measuring points is determined on the basis of the desired ISO class and size of the cleanroom. A detailed report is drawn up and sent on the basis of the measured data.
Validation interval
According to ISO14644-1:2015, cleanroom and flow cabinet have to be validated in accordance with a maintenance and validation programme tailored to the individual process. In practice, this usually leads to a validation interval of 12 months of cleanrooms with ISO class 6 or higher. For cleanrooms or flow cabinets with ISO class 5 or lower, the validation interval is usually 6 months.
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