QUESTION:

How do you determine which PortaFab clean room wall system to use for a specific application?

Answered By: Tim Loughran

Concerning the PortaFab cleanroom product lines, there is a distinct or unique reason why you would use the PharmaSystem or the Fabline systems, and the CleanLine system fills in all the areas in between.

When you have a pharmaceutical system and you’re concerned about having to do clean downs, regulatory issues or cGMP compliance (which tells you you have to have the coved corners and no flat surfaces) then you automatically default to the PharmaSystem.

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When you are building ISO 5, ISO 4, ISO 3, ISO 2, or ISO 1 class cleanroom (the cleanest cleanrooms) and you’re using them for wafer fabs or semiconductor chip fabrication, that’s when you default to the FabLine. The reason why you’d use the FabLine system is that it’d demountable, meaning it’s made out of aluminum honeycomb systems. The reason why they use honeycomb systems is because this material doesn’t powder when you cut into it. An aluminum honeycomb wall will chip when you cut into it and those chips fall out of the airstream, as opposed to becoming airborne. Therefore you have specific reasons for using these two systems.

However, there are other reasons to use modular that have nothing to do with the environment, and much to do with economics. Once you’ve made a decision from a cleanliness standpoint and determined what classification your clean room needs to be, as well as where you’re building it, that’s when you can decide on using modular versus traditional construction.

One of the reasons to use the CleanLine system is because it is self-supporting, meaning it can support itself. Other features include panel options that can provide R-value, or insulating value, and it’s also a system that can be utilized more as multiple rooms. It’s not as dependent upon the structure that you’re hanging it from, or the area that you’re putting it into. So the CleanLine system becomes a cleanroom in and of itself, and not just a clean room – it becomes the outside environment that forms a cleanroom. That’s different from when you use the PharmaSystem and Fabline system. 

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