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How to Determine Your Cleanroom ISO Classification and Calculate Air Changes per Hour (ACH)
2026-06-11
AIRKEY successfully completed a 48㎡ ISO 5 modular cleanroom for a leading 3D printing company in Texas, USA. Designed to support high-precision additive manufacturing, the cleanroom provides a stable, contamination-controlled production environment that improves printing accuracy, product consistency, and manufacturing efficiency.
The project adopts AIRKEY's FastFlex Light Series modular cleanroom system, featuring a lightweight aluminum structure, transparent acrylic wall panels, and intelligent environmental control. The entire cleanroom was prefabricated, factory-tested, and rapidly installed on-site, minimizing construction time while ensuring reliable performance.
The client, Creative 3D Technologies, Inc., specializes in advanced 3D printing solutions and provides complete in-house design and manufacturing systems. The company focuses on overcoming the limitations of traditional prototyping and lightweight manufacturing, enabling customers to produce complex geometries with greater flexibility and precision.
As production expanded into high-precision applications, maintaining an ultra-clean manufacturing environment became essential for ensuring product quality and process stability.
High-precision additive manufacturing, particularly for medical devices and aerospace components, is extremely sensitive to airborne particles and environmental contamination.
During powder handling, contaminants may become mixed with raw materials, resulting in internal defects and reduced mechanical strength in printed components.
Throughout the powder spreading and laser sintering process, airborne particles can interfere with layer bonding, leading to warping, dimensional inaccuracies, and reduced product quality. In addition, if sintering fumes are not removed efficiently, they may contaminate optical lenses and reduce printing precision.
Powder cleaning and recycling operations also require strict contamination control to maintain material consistency between production batches while preventing cross-contamination.
After printing, inspection, measurement, and quality testing must be carried out in a clean environment to eliminate dust interference that could affect measurement accuracy or compromise the quality of medical-grade products.
The project utilizes AIRKEY's Light Series modular cleanroom, combining an aluminum alloy frame with transparent acrylic wall panels to create a bright, open, and highly visible production environment.
The aluminum frame features a concealed screw design that minimizes dust accumulation while providing a clean and modern appearance. The transparent wall system also allows operators to monitor production activities easily without compromising cleanliness.
To simplify on-site installation and reduce construction time, AIRKEY pre-installed all required electrical and communication infrastructure before shipment.
The cleanroom includes eleven 120V power outlets, six three-phase 220V outlets, and three network interfaces. All utilities were integrated into the modular structure at the factory, eliminating the need for additional cutting or wiring during installation and significantly improving deployment efficiency.
The cleanroom is equipped with fifty EC Fan Filter Units (FFUs), providing continuous ISO 5 clean airflow throughout the entire production area.
Each FFU can operate independently or as part of a centralized control system, allowing operators to precisely adjust airflow according to production requirements. Fan speed and lighting are managed through an intelligent control panel, ensuring a stable, energy-efficient, and fully controllable cleanroom environment.
This precise environmental control helps maintain consistent printing quality while reducing contamination risks during additive manufacturing.
To minimize contamination during production, the cleanroom adopts independent pathways for personnel and materials.
Large production materials enter through a cargo air shower, while smaller components are transferred via a dynamic pass box. This separation reduces airborne particle transfer between production stages and helps maintain ISO 5 cleanliness throughout manufacturing, inspection, and material handling processes.
Before delivery, the entire modular cleanroom was fully assembled and tested at AIRKEY's manufacturing facility.
Critical performance parameters, including ISO cleanliness level, temperature, illumination, and overall system operation, were thoroughly verified prior to shipment. Factory acceptance testing ensured rapid installation on-site and guaranteed that the cleanroom achieved its design performance immediately after commissioning.
The completed project provides the client with a reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient ISO 5 cleanroom solution that supports the demanding requirements of modern high-precision 3D printing manufacturing.
