Cleanroom HVAC Solutions

Evaluating criteria for air change design in cleanroom/contamination control systems is a daunting task, especially when modeling the dynamic operation of spaces. Potentially, each partition in the space typically requires specific Air Changes Per Hour (ACPH). and cascading differential pressure values to achieve ISO-rated certification.

Terra has pioneered several modern strategies to improve overall efficiency and performance in cleanroom systems.

Recirculating Airflow Cleanrooms: Recirculated air cleanroom systems are far more efficient than their 'Once-Through' counterparts because the recirculated air is preconditioned to the appropriate humidity and temperature values. As a result, recirculating HVAC designs are more precise and efficient, and can achieve more precise temperature and humidity setpoints with less energy demand.

Controlled Entry/Exit/Transfer: Ensuring uniform temperature and humidity throughout the cleanroom becomes more challenging when production requires frequent entry and exit of people and products. Areas that are closer to air entrances and exits have significant fluctuations in temperature and humidity. When two rooms of divergent pressure share the same wall, implementing transfer systems for products and people is necessary to maintain reliable temperature or humidity levels.

Cascading Airflow Design: Pressure design in controlled environments is a significant factor in controlling internal temperature and humidity values. It's important to design airflow patterns in a way that prevents the intermixing of clean, temperature controlled from outside spaces.

Self-Contained Cleanroom HVAC Systems: To ensure adequate space for manufacturing systems/equipment as well as parallel HVAC for the cleanroom systems, our cleanroom environments can be designed independently from the others, and minimize the disruption of ongoing operations in the other spaces or cleanrooms.

Most pharmaceutical entities deploy aggressive internal strategies that require year-over-year improvements for energy expenditure initiatives. To put this task in perspective, several factors affect the final efficiency and performance of the final system as a whole:

Increased airflow quantity requirements
Increased ventilation requirements
Increased filtration requirements
Tighter tolerances for environmental controls (temperature & humidity)

This leads to a pivotal question in the quest for energy optimization and performance: Do facilities achieving best-in-class efficiency (75th percentile or higher when calculating Energy Performance Indicators [EPI] reflect superior energy management practices, or are they merely benefiting from more precise design qualifications that are tailored to their specific process requirements? Chances are, it's a mixture of both.

Terra orchestrates full-service cleanroom solutions along with their associated air-handling and filtration systems. Terra's customers benefit from substantial improvements in design methodologies, which stem from insights gleaned in high-performance ISO 5 - ISO 7 cleanroom builds for pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and biotech industries.

Vertical Air Returns for Cleanrooms: Terra's modular cleanroom designs are commonly specified with internally recirculating airflow patterns that dramatically improve heating and cooling efficiency when recirculating large volumes of pre-treated, HEPA-filtered air. Air return columns are crucial for maintaining tight temperature and humidity tolerances, thus dramatically reducing variability compared to single-pass systems, also referred to as "once through' cleanrooms. Typically, these vertical air returns are integrated into comprehensive cleanroom solutions rather than offered as standalone components.

Custom Air Shower Design & Installation: Air showers and tunnels consist of an enclosed chamber with high-velocity jets of filtered air that blow over personnel and materials entering the cleanroom or controlled environment. This efficient and effective process removes any loose particles from their clothing or surface before entering the cleanroom or controlled environment, ensuring a contaminant-free environment. Terra's air showers and tunnels are designed for easy installation and maintenance, making them a cost-effective solution for maintaining a clean environment.

Insulated Wall Panels: Well-insulated spaces retain heated or cooled air more efficiently, thus reducing total BTU requirements. The ease and simplicity of modular panel assembly allow for facilities to construct insulated, standalone enclosures within an existing space, thus eliminating many of the costs and difficult decisions that are associated with redesigning, retrofitting, circumventing, or reintegrating a newer, more capable HVAC system.

Standalone Exhaust Modules can be calibrated and ducted independently from existing systems, which can prevent issues with inefficient airflow or strain on facility-wide systems. Similarly, these systems allow for direct exhaust to an outdoor environment, which ensures short duct paths and easier calibration of minimum static pressure. Static pressure that is too low can mean that there isn't enough air being pushed through the system, which leads to inefficient heating or cooling and poor performance.

Isolator & Flow Hood Optimization: Terra evaluates potential energy savings concerning equipment selection and placement. For example, certain isolators may offer 30-50% energy savings compared to Restricted Access Barrier Systems (RABS) in HVAC systems used in filling suites.

When designing enclosures for precise temperature and humidity control, the system performance will be heavily affected by exterior changes in the environment. To mitigate these variables, temperature control cleanrooms will require special attention to the integrity of the room or enclosure.

Smart® Fan Filter Power & Control Panels centralize control over assignable groups or specific targets when conducting cleanroom pressure-balancing, troubleshooting, or maintenance. These UL-Listed Smart Control Panels allow programmable fan speed adjustment, remote shutdown, and integrated displays of humidity, differential pressure, and temperature sensors.

Advanced Pass-Through Systems: Terra offers several pass-through models with integrated HEPA filters and blowers. Importantly, these systems are configurable as once-through (single pass) air supply systems, or as internally recirculating versions. In lab and compounding environments, recirculating systems minimize the disruption of differential pressure and reduce makeup air requirements, therefore improving overall efficiency.

Airlocks: Terra's personnel airlocks consist of two or more doors with interlocking mechanisms that prevent both doors from being open at the same time. This design helps to maintain the positive pressure of the cleanroom, ensuring that air is not lost from the cleanroom when personnel enter or exit.

Terra's Hybrid Modular Rooms are both flexible and scalable, accommodating a variety of utility connections including compressed gas, vacuum, plumbing, phone, and Ethernet lines. This flexibility ensures that the wall systems can be tailored to specific operational needs, making them suitable for a wide range of cleanroom applications. Hybrid design includes interlocking honeycomb wall panels lined with a uPVC substrate on the interior and exterior. Extruded aluminum side pieces allow each panel to interlock, with the gaps filled in with silicone sealant.