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Clean Room Class Specifications Defined By David Easterbrook 

What is a clean room?

Generally speaking, a "Clean Room" is an enclosed room that has equipment which controls the amount of particulate matter inthe air by using air pressure and filters. To meet the requirements of a "Clean Room" as defined by Federal Standard 209E and 

newer ISO standards, all Clean Rooms must not exceed a particulate count as specified in the air cleanliness class.

What are the room classes?

Standards have changed in the last few years. Federal Standard 209E classified rooms in numbers: Class 1, Class 10, Class 100,

Class 1,000 Class 10,000 and Class 100,000. This method is simple, the number assigned to the class is the classification thatthe room must be designed to. Class 1 was the cleanest. The new ISO 14644-1 (or British Standard BS5295) has changed these

numbers to simple classes: Class 3, Class 4, Class 5, Class 6, Class 7 and Class 8. Class 3 is the cleanest.

The difference? Generally speaking, federal standards are measured in cubic feet and the ISO standards are measured in cubic

meters.

What is measured in the air? Class 3, 4 and 5 are based on the maximum number of 0.1 and 0.5 micron particles that are permitted in a cubic foot of air approaching any work operation within the room. Class 6, 7 and 8 are based on the number.5

micron particles.

What is a micron? To give you an idea of what is being measured, one micron is one-hundredth the width of a human hair. Thesmallest particle seen with the naked eye is a 10 micron particle. Clean rooms can control.01 and.05 particles!

Where do these particles come from? The clean room is under positive pressure, keeping out new particles from coming in. Sowhere do they come from? Micro-organisms come from people in the room and other particulates from the processes in theroom. Microbes come from skin cells of humans. We shed our outermost layer of skin every 24 hours, that is 1 billion flakes

every 24 hours! One flake is about 35 microns.

Class limits (amount of particles allowed)

Federal 209B Standards:

* Class 100,000: Particle count not to exceed a total of 100,000 particles per cubic foot of a size 0.5 micron and larger or 700 particles per cubic foot of a size 5.0 micron and larger.

* Class 10.000: Particle count not to exceed a total or 10,000 particles per cubic foot of a size 0.5 micron and larger or 65 particles per cubic foot of a size 5.0 micron and larger.

* Class 1,000: Particle count not to exceed a total of 1000 particles per cubic foot of a size 0.5 micron and larger or 10 particles per cubic foot of a size 5.0 micron and larger.* Class 100: Particle count not to exceed a total of 100 particles per cubic foot of a size 0.5 micron and larger.

ISO or BS 5295 Standards:

* Class 1: The particle counts shall not exceed a total of 3000 particles/m3 of a size of 0.5 micron or greater. The greatest

 particle present in any sample shall not exceed 5 micron.* Class 2: The particle count shall not exceed a total of 300,000 particles/ m3 of a size 0.5 micron or greater: 2000

 particles/m3 of a size 5 micron or greater: 30 particles of a size 10 micron or greater.* Class 3: The particle count shall not exceed 1,000,000 particles of a size of 1 micron or greater: 20,000 particles/m3 of a size5 micron or greater: 4000 particles/m3 of a size 10 micron or greater; 300 particles/m3 of a size 25 micron or greater.

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* Class 4: The particle count shall not exceed a total of 200,000 particles/m3 of a size 5 micron or greater: 40,000 particles/m3of a size 10 micron or greater: 4000 particles/m3 of a size 25 micron or greater.

Air quantity

A properly designed clean room must have a high rate of air changes to scrub the room of particulates. A Class 5 room can havean air change rate of 400 to 600 times per hour while a Class 7 room can change at 50 to 60 changes per hour.

Testing and certification

Once the room is completed, most specifications call for testing and certification. Some requirements state that the roomshould be test annually also. Testing is usually conducted by an independent testing agency using the ISO Standards. It is also

imperative for the owner to purchase a clean room monitor in order to determine the daily status of the room.

About AME Vertical

AME Vertical, headquartered in Troy, MI, provides storage solutions to businesses throughout the United States, and North

America. The Company was founded in 2001 and has grown into a multi-million dollar supplier of storage solutions for customers in many industries, including retail, manufacturing, distribution, and engineering services. AME Vertical alsosupplies thousands of products to the United States Government through its General Services Administration Contract. Visit

http://amevertical.com/ for more information on how to effectively use your current storage space.

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