Compiled by Carrie Meadows

Modular hardwall and softwall cleanrooms can be found in a variety of industries and applications. The flexibility of the modular approach allows designers and operators to customize work areas at a lower cost and to accommodate tight installation schedules. Here is a selection of modular cleanroom products and services from a variety of suppliers.

Modular walls available in standard and custom designs

Clean Air Products introduces Series 901 modular cleanroom walls. Series 901 cleanroom walls are available in three standard designs, with custom sizes and shapes available to suit various application needs. They provide a versatile modular wall system designed for high-quality cleanroom performance with fast and easy bolt-together installation. Series 901 cleanroom walls are cleanroom and pharmacy compatible. The standard wall panel is constructed of white vinyl-covered steel. The 18-gauge steel is laminated with textured vinyl on one side and smooth vinyl on the opposite. Panels may be formed with either a smooth or textured finish to the room side. They are also available with an unpainted stainless-steel finish, smooth or textured baked enamel, epoxy or conductive finishes. The painted panels may be painted colors other than the standard white. The construction incorporates bolt fasteners for connecting the panels. Clean Air Products has been designing and manufacturing cleanroom systems and related products for more than 20 years. Products feature rugged metal construction for dependable performance and long life. The company provides custom modification services to create products and systems designed to satisfy specific application requirements.

Clean Air Products
Minneapolis, MN
www.cleanairproducts.com

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Compiled by Carrie Meadows

Electrostatic voltage sensor

The new TREK Model 875 electrostatic voltage sensor is designed for in-line monitoring of electrostatic charge build-up, which if left unchecked disrupts manufacturing processes and/or causes product degradation and early life failure of semiconductors and other charge-sensitive components. Manufacturers of electrostatic-sensitive devices can monitor production lines and other manufacturing processes in real time, enabling process adjustments. Model 875 features a measurement probe with automatic calibration technology, which maintains accuracy and speed even as the distance between the non-contacting probe and the monitored surface changes, unlike measurement technologies that require fixed-probe-to-surface spacing. Designed with DIN packaging, the sensor’s enclosure mounts on a 35-mm DIN rail. Other features include a voltage measurement range of

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By George Miller

Two German companies are cooperating to manufacture and market technology used to inactivate viruses in biopharmaceutical products.

The collaboration, which has a proprietary ultraviolet-C (UVC) irradiation technique at its core, adds a third virus-inactivation method to the Sartorius Stedim Biotech GmbH (Goettingen) portfolio.

The technique, called UVivatec technology by developer Bayer Technology Services GmbH (BTS; Leverkusen), inactivates such small, non-enveloped viruses as parvoviruses, a version of which causes fifth disease.

“The challenge with small envelope viruses is that they do not die unless you go to pH 1 or so,” says Suma Ray, PhD, process development scientist for viral clearance and cell line development in the global purification technologies group at Sartorius Stedim Biotech. “That’s why we need another method: UVC irradiation.”

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By Roberta Burrows, IEST

A new nanotechnology Working Group (WG), formed in September by ISO Technical Committee 209 (ISO/TC 209) Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments, will begin work in 2009 on developing standards for the nanoscale. This pioneering WG is convened by the United States under the auspices of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), with IEST experts Anne Marie Dixon, Cleanroom Management Associates, Inc., and David Ensor, Research Triangle Institute Center for Aerosol Technology, as co-convenors.

The preliminary scope for WG 10: Nanotechnology would specify the minimum requirements for design, operations, monitoring, and testing of nanotechnology facilities as they differ from those described in ISO 14644-4 (Design, construction and start-up) and 14644-5 (Operations). The WG is authorized to write a series of standards, if needed. Groups of drafting experts will be assigned to specific documents or sections of documents.

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By Hank Hogan

A focus on environmental responsibility and energy efficiency at this year’s semiconductor manufacturing week, hosted in late October by the Sematech subsidiary ISMI (Austin, TX), could have far-reaching consequences, as the demand for greenness percolates through the supply chain.

The transition to a greener mode of operation may benefit from another topic discussed at the meeting. “We see the transition to 450-mm wafers as a real opportunity for a shift to more eco-friendly manufacturing,” said Tom Jefferson, ISMI 450-mm program manager.

He added that ISMI is working with equipment suppliers, with the goal of having pilot-line 450-mm tools available in 2012. A number of companies are involved in factory integration efforts, with the scope of the testbed having doubled since July.

The processing of these larger wafers is supposed to be done without an increase in the unit energy consumption. That goal mandates a 55 percent reduction from the 300-mm baseline.

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As reported by Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Pioneer Press, Entegris, Inc., a supplier to the semiconductor and electronics industry, has announced it will close the larger of its two manufacturing plants in Chaska, MN, cutting 200 jobs, as the company shifts work closer to its Asian customers.

The closure of the plant will affect about 7 percent of Entegris’s worldwide workforce of 2,900 employees, and more than a quarter of the company’s 750 employees in Chaska, where its headquarters are located.

The layoffs will not take place until well into the first quarter of 2009 and will result in annual savings of $6 million to $8 million starting in 2010, company officials said. In the meantime, though, Entegris will incur charges of about $15 million related to the plant closure over the next four quarters.

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Cleanroom operators in life sciences and microelectronics both require compliance to ISO standards for air cleanliness and instrument performance, finding continuous monitoring systems advantageous in the battle against airborne contaminants.

By Bruce Flickinger

Airborne particulate contamination is a quality issue in both the life science and electronics sectors, but there is one overarching difference between their respective needs: Relatively speaking, those in bio/pharma are looking for “rocks in the air,” in the words of one observer.

These “rocks” are particles that could potentially be or transport microbial contaminants, falling into the 0.5

By George Miller

As the wheels of Congress start grinding out legislation to protect federally funded biospecimen collections from inadvertent and malicious destruction, practitioners are of two minds about the government involvement.

The House Science and Technology Committee investigations and oversight subcommittee in September questioned officials of the Veterans Administration (VA) Pittsburgh Health Service on the destruction of a collection of Legionella bacteria. The destruction was ordered by Dr. Mona Melhem, associate chief of staff for clinical services in December 2006, just as arrangements were being made to transfer the collection to another facility.

In less than three hours, the 30-year collection was destroyed, according to testimony.

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