Problem
Understanding air quality in cleanrooms is vital for ensuring operational reliability and production quality. ISO 14644-1 provides recommendations on particle counts which must be measured on-site to show compliance, but often it is extremely difficult to troubleshoot non-compliant particle measurements or identify remedial measures that will work in practice.

Solution
The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models we develop provide an unparalleled opportunity to document and understand both air and particle flow within cleanrooms. The modelling approaches we employ allow us to determine:

• Non-viable particle distributions

• Particle concentrations for comparison with ISO 14644-1

• Air residence times

• Locations of poor air quality and high particle counts

Result
CFD models can be used to understand and optimise cleanroom performance. These models ensure optimum air quality without changing the overall air flow capacity of the HVAC system.