Cleanroom equipment: stainless steel cleanroom furniture and other furnishings
Requirements for cleanroom furniture
Cleanrooms are divided into cleanroom classes. Depending on the cleanroom class, different limits apply to the number of particles permitted in the cleanroom. Cleanroom furniture must meet the requirements of the respective cleanroom class. In Switzerland, there are two different class systems for cleanrooms in particular, ISO and GMP, whereby the individual classes are differentiated according to the number of particles, partly depending on the particle size.
An overview of the cleanroom classes according to the GMP system can be found in the following table, which shows the maximum number of particles permitted per cubic meter:
| Particles ≥ 0.5 μm (resting state) | Particles ≥ 5.0 μm (resting state) | Particles ≥ 0.5 μm (operating state) | Particles ≥ 0.5 μm (operating state) | |
| Class A | 3520 | 20 | 3520 | 20 |
| Class B | 3520 | 29 | 352 000 | 2900 |
| Class C | 352 000 | 2900 | 3 520 000 | 29 000 |
| Class D | 3 520 000 | 29 000 | not specified | not specified |
Source: Annex 1 to the EC Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice
The requirements for the materials and designs of cleanroom furniture are as follows:
- Smooth surfaces
- non-porous surfaces
- abrasion-resistant surfaces
- Stain-resistant surfaces
- High chemical resistance
- High solvent resistance
- Withstand frequent cleaning
- Absence of joints and points
- No inaccessible corners
Stainless steel is best suited for cleanrooms of all GMP classes (A, B, C and D). Austenitic stainless steel with the material number 1.4301 is one of the materials used for cleanroom furniture. This steel has good corrosion resistance and is conditionally acid-resistant. High-pressure laminates (HPL) are also suitable for classes C and D and melamine for class D.
What furniture is available for cleanrooms?
The following list provides an overview of what cleanroom furniture is available on the cleanroom market:
- Tables
- Chairs
- Sit-over benches
- Mirror
- Stool
- Shelves
- Shelving systems
- Cupboards
- Drawer base units
- Fridges
- Clothes rack
What is part of the basic cleanroom equipment?
Cleanrooms are set up and used for a wide variety of purposes. In this respect, there is no one cleanroom and consequently no one cleanroom equipment. Nevertheless, it is possible to draw up a list of what no cleanroom should be without in order to be able to work in it:
- Cleanroom table
- Cleanroom chair
- Clean room cabinet
- Cleanroom shelf
- Cleanroom waste garbage can
- Cleanroom transport trolley
A cleanroom table can be used for many purposes. You can work on it or place objects on it. There are cleanroom tables on castors or on legs and there are height-adjustable cleanroom tables. The table top can also be perforated or closed.
Cleanroom chairs are often made of metal and the upholstery is covered with artificial leather. Here too, you can choose between cleanroom chairs with castors and those with legs.
Cleanroom cabinets can be used to store work materials or manufactured products. The same applies to cleanroom shelving or shelving systems.
A waste garbage can is actually useful in any workspace, including a cleanroom, for which there are special cleanroom waste garbage cans. Sustainable waste disposal in the cleanroom can be achieved with the Longopac system.
The following cleanroom equipment should be available in the personnel airlock before the actual cleanroom:
- Sit-over bench
- Cleanroom mirror
- Cleanroom dust control mats or dust control flooring
A sit-over bench allows you to leave your street shoes on one side of the bench inside the cleanroom airlock, for example, and then lift your legs over the sit-over bench to put on clean cleanroom shoes on the other side.
A cleanroom mirror is designed in particular to allow you to put on a hood, mouth and beard protection correctly on your head or face in the airlock.
A cleanroom dust control mat or a dust control floor covering should be laid in front of every cleanroom so that particles on the soles of personnel’s shoes or on the wheels of a cleanroom transport trolley, for example, are kept away from the cleanroom by these particles sticking to the dust control mat or dust control floor covering.
Have stainless steel cleanroom furniture made
Sometimes you need a custom-made product if you want to furnish your cleanroom. At abovo, we can also offer you individual custom-made products made of stainless steel. We have these custom-made special designs for your cleanroom equipment manufactured by our in-house welding shop in Selzach, Switzerland . The big advantages: We can turn an idea into a finished product within a very short time. Shipping and delivery times can also be kept short thanks to production in Switzerland.
Simply contact us to find out which stainless steel furniture for cleanrooms can be realized, how long the production would take and what the custom-made product would cost.
