Clean Room Technology

Clean rooms are standard in the assembly and service of hard disks, but are also used in hospitals, and other areas where high levels of cleanliness are required. They are lab environments with controlled temperature and humidity standards to ensure that sensitive technology is at no risk of damage or contamination. The walls and ceilings are made of plastic, the light source is external and a ventilation system ensures a continuous stream of clean, dust-free air. The labs are frequently extensively cleaned. If these clean room standards are not met, contaminants can settle into the platters causing them scouring damage that often results in data loss. HDRS has long been an expert in the field of clean room data recovery.

During the installation of clean room walls, special care is taken to prevent material particles from entering the room and thus posing a contamination risk. A particle enclosure is used to trap these particles because they are not easily removed once they get into the clean room area. When high cleanliness levels are required, the Federal Standard STD-209E form is used. This standard outlines the airborne particle cleanliness classes. Class names are given to each class limits and these limits designate specific concentrations of airborne particles found in the clean room.

High Standards

The clean room is enclosed in a shell with ventilators and other safeguards to separate the air in the clean room from the rest of the building. Clean rooms operators and technicians must wear gloves, masks, head covering and special non-linting body-suits. In cases where the utmost levels of cleanliness are demanded, workers pass through an air blast to remove all potential contaminants.

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