Cleanrooms are specialized environments where levels of contaminants such as dust, airborne microorganisms, aerosol particles, and chemical vapors are controlled. In the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, cleanrooms are essential to maintain the sterility and integrity of research and production processes. Cleanrooms are defined by their cleanliness class, which is determined by the number of particles of a specific size per cubic meter.

PART 1
5 Cleanroom Technology Trends That Are Expected to Change the Industry Landscape

1. Automatic operation procedure
Automation is transforming cleanroom operations, making processes smoother and reducing the need for manual intervention. This technological advancement utilizes robot, intelligent controls and automation to improve efficiency and precision. For example, robots can work in dangerous environments, such as high temperature, high pressure space, thus improving work safety.

Automated operations by robots in cleanrooms are an efficient, precise and environmentally friendly way to complete production. The application of robots in clean rooms can significantly improve production efficiency, reduce human errors, and reduce pollution.
Material handling: Robots can carry materials in cleanrooms, reducing manual operations and reducing the risk of contamination.

Equipment maintenance:Robots can perform equipment maintenance and inspections to ensure normal functions of equipment.

Product assembly: Robots can assemble product, improve product precision and consistency, and ensure product quality.

Environmental monitoring: Robots can monitor the environment, such as temperature, humidity, differential pressure, to ensure the stability and controllability of the production environment.

2. Advanced sensors and IoT devices
  In controlled environments such as cleanrooms, real-time data visibility is essential to detect any deviations from the ideal state and take timely action. Real-time monitoring of critical parameters in the process allows for immediate response to deviations, reduces contamination risks, and produces higher quality products.

The latest data monitoring technology such as sensors and IoT devices have changed the way of data collection in cleanroom. In addition to temperature and humidity, various critical factors, such as particle levels, can be monitored very accurately through sensors. Advanced IoT devices make data analysis easier, and predictive maintenance drives continuous improvement.

3. Application of BMS system and EMS system in cleanroom
  EMS system can accurately control the temperature, humidity, differential pressure, air speed and other parameters in the clean room, which helps to maintain constant production conditions, monitor and record the environmental parameters of clean room in real time, discover abnormal environmental parameters in time, and trigger alarms, provide detection and record traceability functions, and reduce the burden on operators.

  The BMS system has a wider range of functions. It not only includes environmental control, but also involves the monitoring and management of multiple systems inside the building, such as HVAC, lighting, power system and fire protection system. The BMS system ensures the stable operation and energy efficiency optimization of the entire building by integrating and controlling these devices.

  The EMS system is usually limited to cleanroom or other areas with special requirements for environmental control, focus on the monitoring and control of environmental parameters. On the other hand, the BMS system covers the entire building or facility, focus on the comprehensive management of all systems in the building, helps enterprises achieve green production.

4. Dehumidifiers and desiccant systems
  Cleanrooms require very precise environmental settings, particularly humidity, to ensure flawless operations and achieve the best product quality. Excessive humidity can lead to mold growth, equipment rust, and a decline in product quality. In this regard, dehumidifiers play a crucial role by appropriately adjusting humidity levels to prevent such hazards, ensuring that cleanrooms operate effectively in a stable and constant environment.

  Modern dehumidifiers use high-efficiency components to effectively and economically regulate the cleanroom humidity. These devices are designed to make the best use of available resources, by incorporating variable-speed compressors, smart humidity sensors, and other customized features to maximize energy efficiency and provide precise control of humidity levels.

5.Energy-Saving Technology
  Cleanroom applications are moving towards sustainability and energy efficiency to reduce environmental impact and lower operating costs. Several energy-saving technologies are used in cleanrooms, including LED lighting and advanced HVAC systems.
LED lighting has gradually replaced traditional lighting and become the mainstream choice. LED lighting has the following significant advantages:
High energy efficiency: LED lighting can provide high brightness effects with low energy consumption and can save up to more than 50% of energy.
Longer service life: The life of LED panel lights can usually reach more than 20,000 hours, reduce the frequency of lamp replacement and maintenance costs.
No ultraviolet and infrared radiation: LED panel lights have no ultraviolet and infrared radiation, which is very important for cleanroom environments that require high-precision operations. At the same time, LED panel lights are environmentally friendly as they don't contain harmful substances such as mercury.
Good dimming performance: LED panel lights have good dimming performance, can adjust the brightness as needed, providing flexible lighting solutions to meet the needs of different environments.

PART2
Characteristics of Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Cleanrooms

  Pharmaceutical cleanroom requires the dust concentration, amounts of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms in the air meet the GMP standards (Class A/B/C/D). Generally speaking, high-efficiency filters, ultraviolet lamps and other purification equipment are needed to achieve such purposes.

1. Pharmaceutical modular clean rooms, which are constructed by combining independent functional modules, provide assembly flexibility, easy maintenance and upgrading. It can be expanded or reconstructed according to production needs.

2. Cleanroom design focuses on pollution control, including personnel purification and material purification. It also requires a specially designed air conditioning system to maintain constant temperature, humidity, and air flow rate. It is essential to prevent any form of contamination and cross infection, and external pollutants from entering the clean area.

3.Use special building materials and structures, such as materials with dust-proof, antibacterial, easy-to-clean characteristics.

  Biotechnology cleanrooms refer to cleanrooms specially designed to control microbial contamination in the air. They are widely used in bio-pharmaceuticals, medical device production, animal laboratories and other fields.

1.The main control object of the biotechnology clean room is the microorganisms in the air, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.. Regular air quality monitoring is required, including microbial monitoring and particle counting.

2.In order to remove microorganisms and other particles in the air, biotechnology clean rooms are usually equipped with HEPA filters or ULPA filters. It is also necessary to strictly control temperature, humidity and pressure to prevent the growth and spread of microorganisms.

3. The interior decoration materials of cleanroom should be easy to clean and disinfect, such as stainless steel, PVC, etc., It is critical to prevent the accumulation and contamination of microorganisms. Some biotechnology cleanrooms may require special design, such as biological safety cabinets, negative pressure cleanrooms.

PART 3
Global Trends in Cleanroom Technology Adoption

  In recent years, the global demand for cleanroom technology has continued to grow, driven by multiple factors. Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology processes need to ensure product safety and effectiveness, while the electronics industry needs to prevent particles from affecting product quality, and aerospace and defense industries require to ensure component reliability under extreme conditions, and the food and beverage industry require to meet consumers' concerns about food safety and hygiene. Multinational companies set up production bases in different countries and need unified cleanroom standards to ensure product consistency and quality. More and more industry standards and regulations require companies to control pollution during the production process. Increased environmental awareness has prompted the adoption of more environmentally friendly cleanroom solutions (such as modular cleanrooms), and their scope of application has continued to expand. The COVID-19 epidemic has increased people's attention to air quality and sanitary conditions, and many industries have begun to re-upgrade their cleanroom facilities to meet future public health challenges. All these factors have jointly promoted the popularization of cleanroom technology.

Different countries have different levels of emphasis on cleanrooms and different application backgrounds, which are mainly affected by the following factors:

  United States: As a leader in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, the United States has high standards and regulations for cleanrooms, especially under the guidance of FDA and ISO standards. Many high-tech manufacturing industries (such as semiconductors) also rely on strict cleanroom control.

  EU: EU countries generally follow GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards for cleanroom requirements, especially in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, which promotes high standards of cleanroom design and operation.

  China: With the rapid development of the pharmaceutical and electronics industries, China is paying more and more attention to clean rooms. The government is also promoting standardization in related industries, especially in the pharmaceutical and medical equipment fields.

  Japan: Japan has strict clean room applications in the electronics and automotive industries, especially in semiconductor manufacturing, which requires very high cleanliness and environmental control.

  South Korea: South Korea's semiconductor and biotechnology industries are developing rapidly, and the application of clean room technology is also increasing. The government supports technological progress and standardization in related industries.

  India: Although relatively new, cleanroom construction in India for the pharmaceutical industry is beginning to gain attention, and as more international pharmaceutical companies set up production bases in India, the demand for cleanrooms is also increasing.

  In general, the degree of attention that countries pay to clean rooms is closely related to their industrial development level, regulatory environment and market demand, which has promoted the development of clean room technology in different regions.