Critically Controlled Environment Solutions

Air Filtration 

Air cleanliness is critical within clean rooms, pharmaceutical, food and beverage and micro-electronic manufacturing. With the introduction of the new ISO 16890 filtration test standards, replacing the previous EN779:2012, it is important to make sure that the filters provided meet the new standard to create the required air quality within the production environment. Often we find that existing filtration systems have been installed correctly but have no means of reporting on the condition of the filters, often leading to dirty filters within systems increasing the energy used by the system to offset the pressure loss or reducing ventilation air flows. We install both a physical monitor and a link to a building management system to monitor condition and offer recommendations as to when the filters need changing.

Humidity Control

Effective humidity control benefits a number of processes.

Within food manufacturing, higher levels of humidity within a bakery can improve the mixing and proving of dough, whereas lower humidity levels within sweet manufacturing can reduce the amount of bulk stored products sticking together prior to packaging.

Within dusty environments, higher humidity levels can reduce the amount of airborne dust present within the atmosphere.
Higher humidity levels reduce the risk of static electricity which is important within microelectronic manufacturing and ATEX (explosive) atmospheres. 

Pressure Cascades

Within manufacturing, pressure cascades are important in keeping air flows between areas going in the right direction. 

Positive pressurisation within a zone ensures that the conditions in adjacent areas have limited impact on the controlled zone. This could be temperature, humidity, particles etc. This is used primarily within clean rooms and high care food manufacturing. 

Negative pressurisation within a zone ensures that any moisture or potentially harmful particles within the air are kept within the controlled environment and aren’t released into adjacent areas. This is used in areas that involve dust, high levels of moisture, chemical storage or laboratories. 

Airlocks can be used to segregate different production areas. 

Environmental Monitoring Systems (EMS)

In manufacturing processes it is often required to provide validated environmental data for the conditions within the production areas. 

A validated Environmental Monitoring System (EMS) is independent of any building management system or automatic control system and produces logged data for the conditions within a space that cannot be edited or modified by the producer. 

The conditions that the EMS monitors and records depend on the requirements of the manufacturing process, usually this includes temperature, humidity, pressure (against a neutral point) & air quality.