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We were proud and honored to have been selected to work with the Aerospace industry in the design and installation of a number of cleanrooms for the space program.
One unique project was to design and install a totally Black cleanroom — walls, ceiling, doors. With the help of our suppliers we were able to achieve this unique requirement. All wall panels and trim were factory coated a flat black. Ceiling tee grid, ceiling tiles and components were also a flat black. We installed a light-free revolving door and had to ensure that equipment doors were gasketed “light tight”. This was a recirculating air flow design and the low wall return grills in the return air chases had to be designed with sufficient bends to prevent the passage of light. A potential show stopper was the HEPA / ULPA filter media, which is white. Even though it was covered with a black face screen the “white” was still noticeable. We resolved this by installing Room Side Replaceable fan powered filter units where the media was recessed sufficiently in the housing to eliminate the problem. The installation was successful and the cleanroom is still in use.
It must be interesting working in a totally black environment. From the following picture it’s hard to see even with some lighting.
Photo provided courtesy of Ball Aerospace and Technology
We were selected to do the conceptual design, pre-engineering and material selection for a cleanroom located at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Johnson Space Center is the home of the famous Chamber A, where in the 1960’s and 70’s tests were conducted for the Apollo space program. We were also a key member of the contractor, equipment supplier and cleanroom acceptance team. Chamber A was being upgraded, and the cleanroom was designed to physically attach to the chamber and be large enough to house the completed James Webb Space Telescope, successor to the Hubble Telescope. The telescope was brought into the cleanroom before being moved into Chamber A for qualification testing.
Some unique challenges of this program were:
Size: Chamber A’s door is 40 feet in diameter, and James Webb, fully deployed, barely fits through it. We had to fit the cleanroom into the available space, in many cases within inches of the building structure and other processes. The height of the cleanroom is in the 60’ range, and we had to assure that we would achieve the design air changes to meet the Class requirements.
Material selection: Due to the sensitivity of the space optics to any residue from material outgassing, a great deal of research went into allowable construction materials. A sample list of restricted materials was: Silicones, DOP’s, Tin, Zinc, Cadmium, Mercury, Lead, Vinyls, Natural rubbers, Synthetic rubbers.
Additional features that had to be dealt with were a very large roll-up door, a 25-ton bridge crane, viewing windows and an air-bearing epoxy floor. All equipment and materials had to be compatible with the restrictions of the James Webb optics system.
Construction: The height of the cleanroom, approximately 60 feet, and the fit issues in the area caused many challenges. A massive scaffold had to be built and maintained clean, the restricted surrounding area caused issues with installers fitting into the space, and the cleanroom was attached to Chamber A with slip connections to allow for movement of the chamber during operation, to name a few.
This was a fabulous project to be involved with. The cleanroom we built supported the final cryogenic optical testing of the James Webb Space Telescope inside Chamber A, which the telescope completed in 2017 before its December 2021 launch. Webb is now operating roughly a million miles from Earth and returning the deepest images of the universe ever captured. There is a tremendous amount of information on James Webb, Chamber A and the cleanroom online — well worth looking up.
Read more about the Chamber A cleanroom on NASA’s project page.
We completed the renovation of a large compounding pharmacy. The filtration system, wall system and ISO 5 area were not in conformance with the current USP 797 guidelines. This required demolition of the existing area, adding structural cleanroom tee grid and components, lining all walls with a tongue-and-groove panel compatible with cleaning agents, and installing a modular ISO 5 cleanroom in a restrictive footprint and overall height. This retrofit is complete and the pharmacy is up and operational.
We were contacted by a Western university that wanted a 5’ x 5’ hardwall cleanroom to meet the following criteria:
The cleanroom was delivered on schedule, installed without incident, and has been meeting the customer’s needs for over five years.
We have had a number of customers involved in cleaning and drying of cleanroom components, plastic containers and glass. We were able to meet their requirements by retrofitting an existing room, installing one of our clean tents, or installing a hardwall cleanroom with a recirculating air system that controlled temperature and humidity.
We have noted an increased requirement over the past few years for large clean tents, 16’+ tall, that could be moved on casters. In some instances these tents have been so large that we designed and built them in sections to facilitate the ability to move them.
One of our customers not only had the requirement for a large moveable clean tent but also had a safety issue that required elimination of any static incident. To meet these critical requirements we designed and constructed a number of clean tents that are currently operational at sites around the world, with the following features:
Clean Zone Technology LLC’s forte is designing and constructing cleanrooms of various sizes and configurations that meet the specific unique requirements of each individual customer. We have expanded existing cleanrooms; disassembled, moved and reassembled cleanrooms sometimes thousands of miles between locations; built in existing sites and in new construction locations; and resold and relocated cleanrooms. We design and install cleanrooms costing from the thousands to hundreds of thousands. All get personal attention and follow-up to assure customer satisfaction.
Some of the suppliers that we work with:
