Cleanroom Terms

As Built:
A functioning room with no furniture, process equipment, or personnel. Normally found only on new rooms. "Very easy to pass"
At Rest:
Fully operational room with furniture, process and support equipment in place but not operating. The most common tested condition, also easy to pass, because no particles are being generated within the room.
Ceiling grid:
Type or style of prefabricated ceiling system used in a cleanroom.
Class:
Defines the limit or measurement that a room will perform to in particles per cubic foot at 0.5 micron or larger.
Cleanroom:
A room, enclosure, and or environment in which you move the air by way of supply and return locations to control the airborne particle levels and in some cases temperature and humidity.
Federal Standard 209E:
The Federal government's basic design and performance requirements for cleanrooms. Some of the information sets minimum and maximum levels, but in general it gives recommended guidelines.
HEPA Filters:
Class of air filters which meet a minimum performance level of 99.97% on 0.3 microns efficiency. (This is only an efficiency test and may not show small pin holes or leaks.) In the cleanroom market HEPA is normally rated at 99.99% and an additional face scan test is performed to assure no pin holes or leaks are found.
Laminarty (Laminar Flow):
Airflow patterns within a room.
Operational:
Mode the room is fully operating at with furniture, equipment, and staff. This is the most difficult level to pass. Here we find the dirtiest source in your room, your personnel. A single person can shed hundreds of thousands of particles an hour.
Parallelism:
Indicates how straight the airflow is over a given distance.
Particulate:
Contamination found in the air or which is generated within a room from a process.
Pass-Thru:
Small air lock that allows you to pass product in or out of a cleanroom.
Recovery:
How quickly the room or area will clean itself up and return to normal.
ULPA Filter:
Class of air filters which meet a minimum performance level of 99.999% on 0.3 microns efficiency. In the cleanroom market ULPA can also be rated to 99.9995% on 0.12 -.16 microns, and a full face scan test is performed to assure no pin holes or leaks are found.