Flexible, lightweight cleanroom

The DryClean-CAPE® for complex cleanroom structures: adaptable and modularly expandable, lightweight and quick to install. © Fraunhofer IPA

Together with the Cellforce Group, a research team from Fraunhofer IPA has developed a mobile dry cleanroom tent. The so-called DryClean-CAPE® not only creates a highly pure environment but also a production setting with low humidity down to approximately -50°C. Especially in battery cell and automotive manufacturing, but also in aerospace, this factor plays a crucial role in product quality.

Air purity has been an important factor in various industries of industrial manufacturing for years. Due to long planning and realization times, large area requirements, and long-term occupancy of production spaces, existing stationary cleanrooms are not always the optimal solution for all applications. As an alternative to traditional cleanrooms, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA have been working for several years on more cost-effective, flexible, and faster, tent-like cleanroom environments. To meet the requirements of different industries and companies, continuous developments and individual adaptations of the "CAPE® systems" are the key success factors.

Two combined enclosures of the cleanroom tent guarantee dryness and particle-free environment

The "CAPE® family" is now expanding to benefit the automotive, aerospace, and battery cell manufacturing industries. For their production, not only an absolutely pure environment is required, but also a particularly low humidity level that determines the achievable product quality. For this purpose, the latest mobile cleanroom tent has been adapted with technology for this specific application. The dry cape consists of two different enclosures. Dryness and particle-free conditions are achieved through separate air treatment units operating independently of each other.

The outer enclosure ensures a dry environment with significant diffusion tightness, suitable for dew points from -30°C to -70°C. In contrast, the inner enclosure is made of a breathable fabric material with properties such as low particle and fiber emission and electrostatic discharge capability. The inner enclosure is qualified according to ISO 14644-1 and creates air cleanliness classes 1 to 9. It thus achieves the same air purity levels as high-quality conventional cleanrooms.

Industry-ready prototype

This unique combination of separately achievable dryness and cleanliness offers the optimal, flexible production environment. DryClean-CAPE® was developed in cooperation with Cellforce Group GmbH and has already been patent-pending. The first industry-ready prototype covers an area of approximately 160 m² and is 3 meters high. The system dimensions are generally very variable, and complex room structures can be modularly constructed or expanded. As with its "CAPE® siblings," the lightweight textile design allows for quick setup within a few days, and delivery can be arranged very rapidly compared to traditional systems.