Cleanroom Particle Monitoring

Problem Description

To maintain our own high quality standards during product manufacturing, certain production stages are carried out under cleanroom conditions.

To continuously log the particle load in cleanroom air and align production intervals accordingly, we sought a suitable solution to measure air quality at defined time intervals.

By statistically analysing the measurement data, proactive measures should be initiated to prevent high particle concentrations.

Preventing excessive particle contamination in advance also reduces the purification and circulation time required by air filtration systems, leading to lower energy consumption and costs.

Solution

To ensure comprehensive monitoring of particle concentration in the cleanroom area, we installed particle sensors in the airlock, the cleanroom itself, and the cleanroom workstation. The sensor data is collected via an IoT gateway.

Using its edge computing capabilities, the gateway processes the gathered data and presents it graphically via its web interface on an LCD display, showing the particle concentration (in µg/m³) in real-time. This also enables a visual representation of the particle load over time in each monitored area.

An additional signal tower light is activated when predefined threshold values are exceeded or not met, providing a clear visual indication for employees as to whether current particle levels in the air permit production.

Through a secure connection to a cloud service, it is also possible to monitor the sensors, their measurements, and the gateway values remotely from other global locations.

All collected data can be easily converted into standard export formats and, for example, sent automatically via email.