A new series of sleek cleaning products for cleanrooms impress with their commitment to sustainability and efficiency
Cleaning is still the bane of many of our lives; and this isn’t just for people with full-time jobs, children, or a house with too much clutter. Most pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies must also maintain a controlled clean environment – in a clean room – if they are to prevent contamination during the production of drugs. Similarly, medical device manufacturers must ensure the sterility and safety of medical devices using similar standards, and semiconductor manufacturers must protect their delicate silicon products from dust and static.
ISO 14644 standard
To qualify as a cleanroom, an area must meet rigid ISO 14644 standards, This protocol is made up of several sub elements including ISO’s 1 to 9. ISO 1 is the ‘cleanest’ class and ISO 9 is the ‘dirtiest’. Even as the ‘dirtiest’ class, the ISO 9 clean room environment is cleaner than a regular room.
The most common ISO clean room classes are ISO 7 and ISO 8. The Federal Standard 209 (FS 209E) equivalent for these ISO classes are Class 10,000 and Class 100, 000.
The ISO standards typically measure parameters such as airborne particle count; airflow velocity and uniformity testing to ensure that the air circulation carries away particles and contaminants; air pressure differential testing; temperature and humidity testing; and lighting and noise levels. Proper documentation of all testing procedures, results, and any corrective actions taken is a crucial component of cleanroom certification.
Creating innovative cleaning products for such an environment is therefore a considerable feat, one that has been met with aplomp by the engineering team at Safe-T, a division of the Netherlands-based company i-Team Global.
The team hired a facility in Dublin last month to demonstrate its newly launched family of cleanroom solutions at an event called the Guardians Of The Cleanroom, The products had been rigorously tested in independent laboratories prior to launch to ensure compliance with the ISO cleanroom standards mentioned.
The products being demonstrated were the Safe-T-IMOP, a vertical scrubber dryer for cleanrooms and sticky mats (ISO 5-6); Safe-T-VAC, a cordless vacuum cleaner (ISO 4-5); Safe-T-BOT 45, a robotic scrubber dryer (ISO 5). All products are battery powered and the absence of cables makes cleaning easier and reduces strain on operators, according to the company. The products are programmable and lightweight with ergonomic features.
The machines also operate mechanical scrubbing and Ultra-Low Particulate Air (ULPA 15) filtration, removing more embedded particles than manual methods and capturing over 99.999% of contaminants as small as 0.1 microns, according to Safe-T.
As Ryan McClymonds, global technical director explained during the demonstration, the products, bar the I-MOP, have already received GMP certification and the remaining product is due to be certified any time soon. These innovations help businesses keep contamination out of critical environments while “saving time, reducing costs, and addressing staff shortages,” he added.
Combining stringent floor cleaning ability, ergonomic design and efficient battery systems, these products will be distributed to industry sectors such as high-tech semiconductors, medical device manufacturers, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and food production.
For more information about these products visit: www.i-teamglobal.com
