CLEAN ROOMS
What is
a clean
room?
Clean rooms are spaces set aside for safely handling food products. They help avoid contamination with external agents, whether chemical or microbiological, as well as cross contamination with other products subsequently handled in the same clean room.
It is important that specialized companies design, install and qualify clean rooms.
Clean rooms and product safety
- Guarantees product preservation by preventing contamination
- Separates or isolates from the external environment
- Optimally eliminates possible contamination brought in from personnel working in the clean room
- Separates to prevent cross contamination between products
- Thanks to its optimal layout, it allows for proper control and management of the flow of materials during all phases of the process.
- Allows for the control and management of personnel traffic with optimal connections between rooms
Clean rooms and people safety
- Confinement of product to avoid unnecessary exposures
- Control of handling risks
- Proper air renewal and control of airborne particulates by effectively monitoring conditions in the room
- Comfortable conditions for personnel (temperature, humidity, noise)
- Ergonomic design to facilitate traffic and flows, for example easy access to service components
Clean rooms and environmental protection
- Separates and isolates from the external environment
- Air filtering and water purifying systems eliminate or dilute pollution produced during the manufacturing process.
- Minimizes space needed thus reducing energy consumption.
In the installation area, we must:
- Prevent cross contamination risks
- Decrease the risk of contamination from the process, personnel, etc.
- Streamline cleaning and maintenance operations
- Obtain the suitable class in rooms
- Supply the quality and amount of air needed to obtain and maintain temperature, relative humidity, product and classification of room
The study of material and people flows between the different production areas is extremely important in order to:
- Improve organization inside the factory
- Prevent cross contamination by physically separating incompatible products
- Improve process efficiency
- Reduce the number of people involved in product handling
Factors that affect the design and specifications of clean rooms:
1. Establish a class
2. Temperature
Ranges between +2° and +18°
For example:
Sliced foods +4°/+8°
Fruit juices +15°
Fresh pasta +2°
3. Relative humidity
Normally 40/60%
4. Overpressure:
(++) Class 10.000
(+++) Class 100
5. Air change according to class:
Class 100.000 <20
Class 10.000 30-40
Class 100 ≥200
6. Fluids:
Glycol H2O ≤ -8°C
Hot H2O 50-60°C
7. No. of people
8. Thermal loads: machinery, light, pumps, etc.