sphairlab: Clean or pure from now on

Injection molding machine in sphairlab

It doesn't always have to be "clean," sometimes "tidy" is enough. And there are good reasons for that. The high standards rightly demanded for "cleanrooms" in medical technology and pharmaceutical labs are simply too high for controlled environments in production, assembly, and packaging. For these so-called "cleaner rooms," only the more general guidelines of VDA 19 apply.

"Some responsible persons still opt for an unnecessarily strict cleanroom according to ISO 14644-1," says Wolfgang Hassa. The managing director of sphairlab GmbH is familiar with this from many customer inquiries about inexpensive cleanrooms, even though only a cleanroom is needed for the respective purpose. This often happens "either out of ignorance, due to incorrect advice, or simply to be on the safe side."

Air as Building Material

Most of the time, it is actually the costs that draw the attention of interested parties to sphairlab: After a successful start in 2017 with its inflatable cleanrooms, the Aachen-based startup caused a stir in the market. The creative concept using fabric and air instead of steel and concrete as building materials convinced many companies from medical technology, surface technology, plastics engineering, and biohybrid research due to its innovative strength, flexibility, aesthetics – and above all: its approximately 50% lower costs.

This advantage has now become known not only among traditional cleanroom clients but also in other industries such as the aforementioned production, assembly, and packaging. However, Hassa and his partner Jens Hutzenlaub did not want to sell sphairlab as a cleanroom to their potential customers. They understood that it could be even more affordable for these cases. The experienced project engineers from different disciplines approached the matter once again in a completely different way…

Reduction to the Necessary

This time, the "disruptive moment" was not like in the product development of the inflatable cleanroom and the market launch of sphairlab in 2017, which combined the different know-how of the two. Instead, the new product line of sphairlab's cleanroom was created under the motto "Can it be a little less?" through intelligent reduction of technology to what is necessary for this purpose: For the lower cleanliness requirements, a significantly cheaper blower is sufficient due to the particle size allowed on surfaces according to VDA 19, which is a maximum of 600 µm. For comparison: In ISO 14644-1 for cleanrooms, this is only a maximum of 5 µm for particles in the air! The cleanroom's airlock also uses simpler equipment, as it only needs to maintain the pressure difference between the interior and exterior. Additionally, documentation for a cleanroom is less complex.

The sphairlab cleanroom works just like the traditional cleanroom: The fabric covers for the room and the airlock are of the same quality to separate the clean air inside from the contaminated air outside. The air inside is also the "building material" of the structure – a reliable blower ensures constant overpressure and keeps it in shape. The ventilation follows the recirculation principle, drawing air from outside the room, filtering it according to the cleanliness class, and distributing it evenly within the room. Through flaps in the wall, the air escapes and is drawn back in by the recirculation system.

As with traditional cleanrooms, the high-quality and certified fabric is individually tailored to the respective requirements and customer wishes. This results in unprecedented design possibilities for the cover in all imaginable shapes, from the round dome to the elongated tunnel. Inside, the durable LED lighting included illuminates the workstations properly.

First Inflatable Cleanroom in Use at Meotec

For controlled environments in production, assembly, and packaging, sphairlab now offers an innovative solution with the product line Cleanroom – and has already gained its first reference customer with Meotec GmbH from Aachen. Their managing director Alexander Kopp is enthusiastic: "A sphairlab cleanroom was the best, fastest, and most cost-effective solution for us to create a controlled environment for our production from a section of our industrial hall." The main reason for him: The price for a sphairlab cleanroom is only about 25% of a conventional cleanroom made of steel and concrete.

Hutzenlaub is accordingly pleased to be able to serve additional customer segments with the new product line, offering a mobile cleanroom that is quick to assemble and disassemble and easy to transport: "Whether our customers need a certified cleanroom or an inexpensive cleanroom – with sphairlab, they get exactly what they need and save pure money."

Presentation at Cleanzone

sphairlab will present the new product line Cleanroom for the first time at Cleanzone in Frankfurt – on November 19 and 20, 2019, in Hall 1.2 at Stand C31.