How to protect products from aerosols, dust particles, or germs?

To answer this question, it must be known that the physical size, or rather its extent, connects all three particle groups. Spherical particles (particles, aerosols, germs) with diameters under 30 µm can be transported through the air over long distances or float in the room air for minutes. However, in indoor spaces or production facilities, the person themselves is the largest producer of aerosols and particles. When exhaling, tiny droplets are released into the surrounding air; with every movement, scales, skin particles, and fibers from clothing are shed and usually float in the room air for a long time. Many of these suspended particles can alter the product properties in production or packaging, impair them, and even destroy optical or electronic components.

This is why individual products must be protected from dust or germs under cleanroom conditions. Only through proper cleaning of the room air can suspended particles be removed from the air. Among the various technical possibilities for cleaning room air, filter techniques have proven particularly effective because they offer an inexpensive and cost-efficient alternative in operation and can also be retrofitted later. This applies to entire complex cleanrooms as well as smaller filter units, the so-called laminar flow box, since both systems are based on the same filter technology.

A laminar flow box, such as the FBS series from Spetec GmbH, was tested by the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation, certified according to DIN standard EN ISO 14644, and classified as ISO 5. This means that a maximum of 3,520 particles per 1 square meter are allowed to be detected inside the box. The flow box thus improves air quality by at least a factor of 10,000 compared to the ambient air in the production area.

In the food industry, all airborne microorganisms (e.g., molds, yeasts) are undesirable, but they are still present in every room air, just like dust particles in optical and electronic manufacturing. In pharmaceuticals and medical technology, sterility or germ-free conditions play a special role, but germs are present in every room air. Therefore, medical devices such as syringes, scalpels, or bandages and plasters must be sterilized, packaged, and stored.

Conclusion: To reduce particles of all kinds (dust, microbes, germs, aerosols), high-performance filters have proven effective, as they rely solely on the physical size of the particle and its hydrodynamic properties for collection and cleaning. Therefore, chemical or biological properties do not play a role. High-performance air filters serve to protect health and products.