What are Respirable Particles and What is a Clean Room Used For?
Respirable Particles are microscopic particles up to 0.10 micron in size and consist mainly of organic material. A clean room is a controlled environment that is free from dust and particles. Clean rooms are usually used for scientific research or assembling electonics. respirable particles are tiny containment particles such as dust, smoke or fibres.
In Clean Rooms, standard 0.30 micron HEPA Filters are generally used to remove Respirable Particles. These HEPA Filters can only remove particles larger than 0.30 micron. It is for this reason, HEPA Filters are virtually useless in Clean Rooms because you cannot remove 0 – 0.10 micron particles with a 0.30 micron HEPA Filter.
Standard HEPA Filters (0.30 mircon)
Standard HEPA Filters remove particles down to 0.30 micron. Therefore smaller particles pass straight through a HEPA Filter and accumulate in the room. Eventually the particles fall out and contaminate the products being produced or processed in the clean room, such as Computer Chips, Micro Tracks on Circuit Boards and Medicines. The fall-out of airborne particles can cause up to 80% of products to be rejected.
Dust produced in Clean Room
The airborne Dust in a Clean Room is actually produced from within the Clean Room itself. This dust is the result of the processes, the activity and the people working inside the Clean Room. The dust that is produced in the clean room cannot be removed by the HEPA Filters located in the fresh air intake. This is because the HEPA Filters only filter the Fresh Air going into the room and do not remove the dust being produced in the room itself. This is primarially because the air in the Clean Room is not re-circulated over the HEPA Filters. The air conditioning of a clean room is always a flow-through system and not a re-circulating system. A flow through system actually increases the particle count in the room.
Special 0.10 micron Bio-Oxygen HEPA Filters
For Clean Rooms, special 0.10 micron HEPA Filters should be installed. Respirable Particles smaller than 0.10 micron particles consist predominantly of organic material which are oxidisable and are effectively removed by the Bio-Oxygen Process. Our special HEPA Filters remove particles larger than 0.10 micron and the Bio- Oxygen Process removes particles smaller than 0.10 micron. The Bio-Oxygen Process will reduce the fall-out of particulates in your Clean Room by up to 90% and consequently if we lower the particle count by up to 90%, we will also lower the product rejection rate by up to 90%.
Extend Service Life of HEPA Filters
If Bio-Oxygen units are installed upstream from the HEPA Filter then the Oxygen Clusters will oxidise most of the trapped micro-organisms and organic material in the pores of your HEPA Filters and will maintain the airflow through the HEPA filter longer. As a bonus, Bio-Oxygen is likely to double the life of your HEPA Filters.
Furthermore, the Oxygen Clusters not only remove Respirable Particles but also remove Odours, Gases and Chemicals which HEPA Filters cannot remove. In addition to that, the Oxygen Clusters also kill Bacteria, Fungus, Yeast, Mould, Mildew, Spores, Viruses, Protozoa and other Micro-Organisms in the air and on surfaces in the Clean Room which is also beyond the ability of any HEPA Filter.
Bio-Oxygen Process
The Bio-Oxygen Process re-arranges the oxygen molecules in the Clean Room. These molecules are converted into Oxygen Clusters. These oxygen Clusters, in turn, oxidise the airborne Respirable Particles smaller than 0.10 micron in the room air. The Bio-Oxygen HEPA filters remove particles larger than 0.10 micron.
The Oxygen Clusters oxidise the Respirable Particles as the particles are produced in the room. The Bio-Oxygen Process removes Respirable Particles in mid air in up to 1 minute, depending on particle size. Therefore the concentration of Respirable Particles in a Clean Room can only be as much as can be produced in the room in up to 1 minute.
For the Oxygen Clusters, the smaller the particle, the easier and the faster they are oxidised. This means that a 0.001 micron particle is easier and faster removed than a 0.10 micron particle. For filters, the opposite applies. The smaller the particle, the more impossible it becomes to remove with a filter.
In any event, there is no filter anywhere in the world that is able to remove particles smaller than 0.10 micron and 0.10 micron is definitely the limit, even for the most efficient HEPA Filter. However, for the Bio-Oxygen Process, 0.10 micron is only the starting point. The Bio-Oxygen Process oxidises particles from 0 – 0.10 micron in less than 1 minute.
100% Outside Air
Usually, in order to prevent the build-up of Particulates or Bacteria in a Clean Room, the air conditioning system is always a flow-through system that uses 100% outside air. The theory is that the more air flows through a Clean Room, the faster particulates and bacteria will be flushed out of the room.
The air conditioning system usually provides minimum 20 – 30 air changes per hour or 1 air change every 2 – 3 minutes. The conditioned air comes in on one side of the room. And after 2 – 3 minutes is exhausted on the other side of the room. Therefore, the air conditioning system of a clean room is a 100% wasteful system. We say this because it wastes 100% of the conditioned air.
An air conditioning system that uses 100% outside air will run flat out 100% of the time. This means the air conditioning compressors consume an excessive amount of power. This causes themm to wear out faster and, as a result, also break down more often. During a heat wave, this is exacabated.
The harder that the air conditioning has to work, the more power it consumes. This causes the equipment to wear out and eventually break down. Unnecessary break-downs cause production down-time, extra maintenance and repair costs and faster equipment depreciation. The Bio-Oxygen Process prevents all that.
Bio-Oxygen Process
By comparison, with Bio-Oxygen, you can run the air conditioning system of your Clean Room as a normal return air system. Our system runs with up to 80% Return Air and as little as 20% Outside Air.
As you reduce the outside air intake from 100% Outside Air to 20% Outside Air, your air conditioning compressor will run on idle. This causes the power consumption to drop by up to 50%. The savings in electricity and reduced wear and tear of your air conditioning compressors and reduced break-downs will pay for the Bio-Oxygen equipment.
Our special HEPA Filters will remove particles larger then 0.10 micron and the Bio-Oxygen Process will remove particles and organisms smaller than 0.10 micron (from 0 to 0.10 micron). We can give you much cleaner air with 80% return air than you are currently getting with 100% outside air. Your Clean Room is dirty in relation to what Bio-Oxygen
