50mm rock wool sandwich panel with both sides MGO board can resist fire 60mins. And, 100mm rock wool sandwich panel with both sides MGO can withstand fire 4 hours.
Zonsteel clean room panel skin could be PPGI, stainless steel or aluminum board. Normally, PPGI paint has PE, HDP, or PVDF which can last 5-20 years. And skin steel thickness range from 0.4-0.8mm, any RAL color for more than 2000m2. Skin stainless steel 304 is usually 0.5 mm.
Zonsteel clean room panel connection kit is hidden, shaped like 中. The gap between two panels is 2mm. This kit together with floor and top U channel, ceiling hanging materials and other accessories can be provided as a turnkey project.
Zonsteel panel is packed well using wooden or steel pallet. Delivery time is 7-15 days. Our factory is certificated with ISO 9001:2008. Zonsteel is a clean room expert and professional in design, manufacture, shipping, installation and after sales services. We especially have extensive experience in IT, pharmaceuticals, food, new energy and lab industry’ clean rooms.
Contact us today to customize your clean room panel, any width, length, color, or fire rating!
Clean rooms are important types of rooms or buildings you can find in a company or institution. These clean rooms are designed to minimize the concentration of airborne particles in a room depending on the application. Other than clean rooms being clean all the time, these rooms also have to maintain their pressure, humidity, and temperature within the desired range.
Depending on the needs, clean rooms can be of small sizes or span over large areas to act as complete production facilities. It often comes down to the user requirements in terms of contamination control.
If you are going to end up with the best clean room, you also need the right clean room panels. That is what we would like to look at in this guide. At the end, you will have all the information that you need to pick the right clean room panels and set up a nice clean room for your needs.
Figure 1: Clean Room Panels Made Clean Room
Figure 2 Clean Room Panels
From the definition of clean rooms above, it is easy to see that clean room panels are the essential building components to set up clean rooms in an area.
Because of their characteristics, the clean room panels are good for electronics manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, biology, food, precision instruments, and more.
Depending on the use, the clean room panels are divided into two categories. They include manual and mechanical panels. So, before you can decide which one is ideal for you, learn more about these two types first.
What are the benefits of clean room panels?
For someone who is new to clean room panels, the advantages might be unknown to them. Below, we look at why you might want to consider getting the clean room panels.
1, Faster construction speed
The clean room panels are designed to be modular. This means that the overall speed of construction is better. You can have a nice clean room panel set up in a couple of days and ready for use. Take note that the speed and completion time of the construction process can vary based on several factors. We recommend that you talk to Zonsteel to understand more about this duration.
Figure 3 Clean Room Panels installation
2, More flexibility for setting up clean rooms
The clean room panels are also known for their flexibility. You cannot compare their flexibility to what you get with a traditional brick and mortar structure. With the clean room panels, it is easy for you to pack them and move to a different location with so much ease.
During the construction of the clean rooms, the clean room panels already have a provision for other important equipment. This includes the air handling units, the diffusers, HEPA boxes, and more. This can make your clean room more versatile than other structures where you have to drill into the walls again.
Figure 4 Setting Up Clean Room Using Clean Room Panels
3, Safety
Clean room panels are always designed with safety in the mind. The last thing you need is for your important clean room equipment to catch on fire. This is possible by using rockwool as a building material. Rockwool is known to be fire retardant making the clean room a safer place.
The safety will vary a lot from one model to another. Always look at what the manufacturer claims to be the safety features of the clean room panel before buying.
4, Durability and Integrity
The durability of any clean room is crucial to the users. No one wants to set up new clean rooms every year. Well, the clean room panels from Zonsteel are built with durability in mind. This is because the materials used such as steel, aluminum, rockwool, glass magnesium, and many others offer the best durability. It should be the reason people feel there is value for money when using clean room panels.
The best part is that these clean room panels also offer the best integrity you need for a clean room. Clean rooms are supposed to have a tight sealing and resistant to various differential pressures. Even if they are modular, they will still deliver on such integrity and durability.
5, The cost advantage
Traditional construction is not the cheapest. That is something we all know. Also, it can take too long to finish, meaning you end up spending a lot more than what you had hoped. As such, it is best if you consider the use of clean room panels. They are generally known to be cost effective and will still be durable.
Unlike the traditional structures, clean rooms can also be reused. When a project is complete, theclean room panels can be repurposed for another project easily.
6, Ease of cleaning
As part of maintaining a clean room, cleanliness is quite important. In fact, the word clean is in its name. The cement walls do not always offer the ease of cleaning. They are also likely to exude particulates and contaminants. It is why you need to switch to the clean room panels today.
Thanks to the design and construction, you will always find that there is less dirt that sticks to the walls. As such, you will not have to worry much about cleaning the clean room panels more often.
When it comes to clean room panel types, you are likely to come across the manual clean room panels and the mechanical clean room panels. If you are not sure which one to choose, below we look at the differences between the two.
Figure 5 Manual Clean Room Panels
1, Panel type: The mechanical type will only have a single clean room panel as an option to choose from when you need to set up a clean room. However, that changes when you opt for the manual clean room panels. There are up to 9 types of clean room panels available for you to choose from depending on your needs. It is why such panels will be suitable for different projects.
2, Core material: The manual clean room panels will have various core materials compared to the mechanical clean room panels. This should help improve the manual clean room panels durability.
3, Appearance: The appearance can also be a good way of identifying these two panel types. Because of the manufacturing process and the materials used, you will get the manual clean room panels having a finer appearance than the mechanical panels.
The same applies when you touch the panels. You will notice that the surface of the manual panel feels finer and smoother than the mechanical clean room panel.
The appearance and feel can often be personal preference, but it is good to know how the two differ from each other.
4, Strength: For a clean room you are likely to use for years to come, then the manual clean room panels are the best choice. This is because the manual clean room panels are constructed by hand and contain ribs inside the panel walls. These ribs are essential for boosting the durability and strength of these clean room panels.
The mechanical clean room panels do not have the same strength. They are then suitable for clean rooms that might not be under high stress levels. If you want more performance, the manual panels should give you all the important strength that you need.
5, Fire protection: A clean room is supposed to have the best fire protection too if you hope to protect all the important machines placed in it. The clean room industry is always evolving in terms of the fire resistance needs. It means that the panels also have to be developed to live up to such needs.
If we look at the fire resistance of the two major panel types, we find that the manual panel has a better fire resistance performance. It is able to remain fire resistant up to four hours. There is no doubt it should be a nice choice for anyone who needs to protect their equipment until the fire is put out.
From the various traits shared above, it is easy to see that the manual clean room panels will cost a lot more than the mechanical clean room panels. Even if you are paying more, the resultant performance makes the money spent on the clean room panels all worth it.
Figure 6 Clean Room Panels – IT
1, IT
Depending on the type of electronic component that needs manufacturing, a clean room is important. A good example is a hard disk manufacturing process. If dust gets to the disk, it can lead to scratches when it is installed in a computer. It is why most of the IT companies will have clean rooms to keep their manufacturing process clean and effective.
2, Pharmaceuticals
Pharmaceutical companies deal with sensitive drugs that should remain free from contamination. With the use of clean room panels, they can manage to maintain a dust-free and bacteria-free area to manufacture the drugs. The most common option would to use the clean room panels with rock wool material. Such a material is good for fire resistance and still keep the room from getting wet.
3, Food
The food industry also needs clean rooms if it is going to manufacture the safest food for human consumption. It is why the research facilities and food processing plants will have clean rooms to maintain the best hygiene while handling food.
4, Lab industries
Research facilities have to deal with various sensitive equipment in the labs. They however need to conduct these sensitive experiments and thus the need for clean rooms. Having the extra particles in the lab can lead to false results. Once you have set up a clean room, then you can conduct the experiments better and not worry about any contaminations.
The above categories are not the only places where clean rooms can be used. It often comes down to your needs. Zonsteel is available to make custom clean room panels depending on your need for one.
Figure 7 MGO Clean Room Panel
1, Flame retardant paper honeycomb clean room panel:
This type of clean room panel comes with a paper honeycomb core just as the name suggests. This type of construction includes a flame-retardant paper as core. The other materials that make up the panel include stainless steel or color steel. It is easy to see that such a construction would also offer the best durability too.
The flame retardancy of this clean room panel is rated at the B1 level. This means that it will only carbonize and not burn.
For the various materials used in its construction, this clean room panel has high rigidity, strong bearing capacity, impressive heat insulation capacity, no toxic ingredients, and great sound insulation performance.
2, Rockwool cleanroom panel:
The rockwool clean room panel has a sandwich type of construction. This is where it has the color steel as the face of the clean room panel and then a structural rock wool as its core layer. These two layers are held together by using a special binder.
Once the two layers are bound together, they leave you with a clean room panel containing the best fire-retardantcapability. Even when the clean room panel is subjected to a fire for long, it is able to hold its structure.
Because of its fire resistance performance such a clean room panel is commonly used to cover the four sides of the clean room adequately.
Having the reinforcing ribs as part of the construction makes the panel to be good at strength and durability too. Depending on the type of clean room you need to set up, this clean room panel can be a nice option to form a strong clean room. Usually be used a clean room wall, partition wall and ceiling.
3, MGO grid clean room panel:
This type of clean room panel will have a glass magnesium mesh as the core of the panel. Such a material is important for improving the overall strength and durability of this clean room panel. Its two sides are made from flat steel plates then surrounded by cold drawn profile frames. Because of such a construction, this clean room panel is commonly used for making clean room ceilings or enclosures.
People love this type of clean room panels because they are flat and beautiful. They will give your clean room a nice look in comparison to what people think clean rooms should look like.
Other than looking beautiful, this type of clean room panel is also good at sound insulation, thermal insulation, and heat insulation. Also, it is earthquake resistant to keep your components in the clean room safe.
The materials used to make the MGO grid clean room panels are class A flame retardant. This means that the material does not melt even when burning. This also translates to no drippings when subjected to high temperatures.
4, High-efficient antistatic and antibacterial clean room panel:
With the improvement in technology, we now have the antistatic and antibacterial clean room panels available. As the name suggests, these clean room panels will be good for preventing static electricity from sparking fire in the clean room. It is a good way of making sure that your equipment in the clean room is further protected.
It is not just about fire protection, but also antibacterial protection too. This can be good for clean rooms that have to handle pharmaceutical products. The last thing you need is pathogens infesting the clean room. Well, this type of protection should make these clean room panels to be highly sought after depending on the level of cleanliness you hope to achieve.
5, Antistatic clean room panel:
The antistatic clean room panels come with special conductive pigments as part of the coating used on the color panel. This makes the color plate to have an impressive resistance rating of 107 to 109.
The panels use static electricity to form an electrical energy important for preventing the dust from adhering to the clean room panel surface. This should make cleaning of the room panel easier than before.
Other than preventing dust from adhering to the clean room panels, they also have a better chemical and wear resistance. Sometimes these clean room panels can be used where there are a lot of harsh chemicals. It is good to know that they can resist chemical interaction.
The same clean room panel also has an antibacterial enamel agent as part of the construction. This layer has the anti-bacterial properties. Such a layer should keep the bacteria and pathogens out of the clean room. The same layer is good for keeping the clean room panel clean so that you do not have to keep cleaning it more often as you would other models.
6, Aluminum honeycomb clean room panel:
For this type of clean room panel, it can be made of different core materials combined with the aluminum honeycomb materials. The most common options include glass magnesium panels and gypsum panels.
As for the two sides of the board, they can also be made of different materials. Such materials are stainless steel, galvanized steel, and more. It depends on the likely application of the clean room panel.
People love these clean room panels because of the class A fire rating. This means that it should be able to withstand higher temperatures better than other clean room panels.
The beautiful surface makes these panels also desirable for decorations. Yes, the clean rooms do not have to be boring always.
All the materials used in the construction of the panel make it better in terms of sound insulation, heat preservation, fire resistance, earthquake resistance, and more. Since the panel conforms to various national standards, it will be a nice option for setting up your preferred clean room panel. Since its light weight, more often used as ceiling.
7, Paper honeycomb clean room panel:
This type of clean room panel has to be the simplest to manufacturer. This is because it has a paper honeycomb as the core and then covered with steel plates on the two sides of the panel. You will also find it having cold-drawn profile frames glued to the panel for additional rigidity.
Figure 8 Clean Room Panel – Custom Made
The size of the clean room panels varies depending on the needs of the client. On overall, the Zonsteel clean room panels will be up to 8000mm in length. For ease of construction, most panels are less than 6000mm in terms of length.
As for the width, the standard clean room panel will either be 980mm, 1180mm, or 1180mm.
The thickness of these clean room panels will generally be 50mm, 75mm, or 100mm.
Any other width and length can be custom made from Zonsteel.
The clean room panels all come with different joint types that a user can choose from. Each of the joint type has an application depending on how you want to set up the clean room.
The two main types of clean room panels are manual and mechanism panels. The mechanism panels will have joints such as the tongue and groove socket and the flat edge socket with a H channel type.
As for the manual clean room panels, they come with joint types such as box board, male and mother board type, and the tongue and groove board.
The best part about these joints is that they are weld-free. This means that you can install them in place without worrying about welding them.
The box plate joint is a Chinese shaped aluminum connection used mostly for many clean room panels installation. They are made to have galvanized keel all around to make the joint stronger and withstand any strain over time. The same joint can be good for holding the ceiling beams so that you can set up the clean room better. For being high strength and modular, it is easy to find this joint having more applications.
Figure 9 Clean Room Panel Joint 1
We had mentioned about the male and three mothers joint type also above. This is mostly good for professional ceiling applications. The joints will easily be concealed in the ceiling so that you can end up with a clean look of your ceiling. The overall appearance and the high strength construction should make the panels stay in place for a long time to come. Below is an image of the clean room panels joint type.
Figure 10 Clean Room Panel Joint 2
As for the tongue and groove joint, it is mostly used as a sub-motherboard plugging method. As such, it will be ideal for reducing the installation costs compared to using other traditional methods. When it is set up at 90 degrees outside the thread, you will end up with an insertion seam that looks more beautiful.
Figure 11 Clean Room Panel Joint 3
Figure 12 Clean Room Panel Manufacture Process
For this part, we will pick the handmade rock wool plus MGO clean room panel as an example to illustrate our manufacturing process. Below are the steps we take from start to finish to come up with a clean room panel.
Step 1: This first step involves steel panel coating. The coating is crucial as it reduces the chances of the panels scratching during production, transportation, and installation. The result is that you have a beautiful panel.
Step 2: As for the second step, it involves pressure cutting the color steel panel to the right size depending on the customer needs. Once the cutting is done, the panel is also covered with the protective film. This step made by machine.
Step 3: This step involves the application of glue to the clean room panels. The manual glue application ensures that the glue is uniform allover the various surfaces. This translates to a better adhesion of the panels once put together.
Step 4: At this point, the clean room panel is prepared just as the color steel panel above. This also involves applying adhesive to make the contact effective. The adhesion will be perfect if the glue was correctly applied. Since a lot of care goes into making these panels, the adhesion will always be good.
Step 5: Under this step, it involves the installation of the structural frame keel. The use of keel is important to provide the panel with the best supporting role.
Step 6: Laying of rock wool is what follows. The use of rock wool is crucial to ensure that the panel is fire retardant. And warmly keeping and heating proofing. The rock wool is cut and evenly laid on the glued-up MGO board.
Step 7: This is the final process where the two panels are joined and compacted for 48 hours before delivery to the client. This type of clean room panel is prepared half by machine and half by hand. This ensures there is better care that goes into making the clean room panel better in performance and durability.
Figure 13 Install Clean Room Panel
Now that you are interested in getting manual clean room panels, the next question in your mind would be, how do you install them? Well, the process is not complex.
You will first have to identify an area where you want to set up the clean room panels. This is then followed by setting up the boards depending on the numbered panels from Zonsteel. This is done in advance at the factory so that you know which clean room panel goes where.
Follow the board numbers to start the installing clean room panels. Firstly put U channel on the ground, and bolt U channel to ground. Then put clean room male and female together, put it into U channel. The top connect to ceiling which is also made of clean room panels. The corner covered by C shape aluminum. Considering the clean room panels are supplied with all the parts and instructions, the set-up process does not require the user to have high technical skills.
The best part about installing the panels is that you can inspect them as you proceed. This method makes it easier for you to check if the panels live up to your clean room needs. Once you are done with the installation, there no point of additional construction on its surface.
In summary, these are the installation steps you are likely to encounter each time you decide to set up a clean room.
If you are not sure how to proceed, Zonsteel can send engineers to help on site, or hire local professionalinstallation team, or hire a handyman to help with the installation process. This is to ensure that you end up with a clean room with the best integrity.
Figure 14 Clean Room Panel Storing
To correctly install and store the clean room panels, you should consider the following precautions.
1, The construction of a clean room has to be done when the temperatures are from 5 degrees C to 40 degrees C. If it is done during this range, you should tear off the protective film of the panels within 30 days. In case the construction environment is over 40 degrees C, consider removing the protective film in five days after the construction is complete.
2, When handling the clean room panels, always consider paying attention to the corners. The last thing you want is to bump them into other objects leading to damages.
3, If you have to move the various panels, consider having someone else help you to move them correctly. Also, only move two pieces at a time for better control and protection.
4, As for storage, you should always ensure that the bottom surface is flat. The recommended stack height is less than 800mm and storage height is less than 2500mm.
5, Make sure that the area where you store the clean room panels is dry with no leaks. This will keep the panels in pristine condition even if you do not plan on using them any time soon.
Figure 15 Clean Room Panel Maintenance
The clean room panels will have properties such as dustproof, anticorrosive, antistatic, and sometimes antibacterial. All these features are important to keep the clean room spotless. However, there is still the need to clean these rooms more often. We recommend that you consider cleaning the panels once a month to maintain a clean environment.
The frequency of cleaning the room panels will likely vary depending on the application of the clean room. There are others that might need cleaning every week to maintain a clean area. This is mostly for those who are handling sensitive content such as the pharma companies.
When you are cleaning the clean room panels, make sure to use the clean room dust cloth. This ensures that the panels are cleaned correctly up to the manufacturer standards.
To clean your panels, you should consider some of the following methods below to get started.
Dusting: This is a common method that we all do in our homes. With the right dusting cloth, go ahead and remove as much dirt from the surfaces of the panels as possible. You can use a mild detergent in a pint of water to get deep into the panel layers. This helps you to end up with a glossy and clean look once the cleaning is done.
Wiping: This type of method is good on overall for those who do not want to build an electrostatic charge on the panels. This type of charge attracts dust, which is something you do not want. The best option would be to wipe using damp chamois to help in removing the charge. We recommend that you do not use the window cleaning fluids, acetone, or any other scouring compounds.
Tar removal: Sometimes you might have to deal with tar build up if the cleaning process is delayed. So, the best option would be to use high quality Naphtha or kerosene, which is easily available. These compounds are also good for the removal of grease and paint.
Scratch removal: depending on the type of clean room panels, sometimes you might end up with some scratches. This is common with the aluminum panels. With the right equipment, it should be possible to buff out these scratches to leave you with a clean looking panel. However, do not overdo it. Just use the right amount of pressure for scratch removal.
For someone who might be new to clean room panel cleaning, consider following the instructions from the manufacturer. This helps you to maintain a clean look of the panel and the integrity of the clean room is not compromised.
During the installation of clean room panels, you are likely to notice a gap between the two panels. It is important that you install the clean room panels and seal the gap correctly so that the gaps do not affect the airtightness of your clean room.
To seal these gaps, we recommend that you use silica gel. Remove all the impurities that might be on the panel surfaces before the use of silica gel to seal the gaps between panels.
The impurities and oil stains are likely to affect the adhesion of the clean room panels against each other. By removing them, you also prevent cases of shedding and dust accumulation on the surface. Once you are done with cleaning of the surfaces, they should be smooth without wrinkles to ensure the contact is just perfect.
On overall, the gap between the two panels would be around 3mm. For this reason, you should keep the injection port of the sealant small too. Whenever possible, cut this port at a 45-degree angle so that it is easier to apply the sealant in the tight spaces.
Make sure that you scrape off the excess silica gel from the seams. This will leave the panel having a clean look.
We recommend that you always double check these gaps to ensure they are correctly sealed so that the integrity of the clean room is not compromised.
The clean room panels are built for durability on overall. It is why you will find most of them having materials that are resistant to moisture, bacteria, fire, and more. The idea is to make them last as long as possible.
To determine the exact life is not always possible because these panels will be subjected to different working conditions. However, for most clients, they find them highly durable even in areas full of moisture and other hazards. As such, you are likely to be using the clean room panels for years to come.
If you are going to buy clean room panels, you would want to know more about their durability. We have already mentioned the expected service life of the panels above, however, there are some things that can easily affect the overall durability of the panels. Below, we look at some of these factors to keep in mind.
1, The overall quality of the glue used to set up the clean room panels will always determine how long the panels would last. The use of inferior glue can always lead to less contact and adhesion of the layers to each other. If the manufacturer uses low quality adhesives, then expect the panels not to last for long.
2, Other than the glue, the quality of the color steel plate is also important to determine its durability. If you have clean room panels made of good steel plate, then they will maintain their color and remain UV resistant. If the manufacturer uses the best steel plates, then the clean room panels will have the best corrosion resistance, bending resistance, and good formability.
3, The density of the core material also goes a long way to determine the durability of a panel. The most common density options of rock wool include 100 kg/m3, 120kg/m3. The density of the panel is determined based on where it is likely to be used to set up the clean room. If you are not sure about which density is best for your application, consult with the Zonsteel technicians and engineers to learn more. The last thing you need is to have a panel that does not have the best density to suit your needs.
How you clean the clean room panels will also determine their durability. We would recommend that you always follow the manufacturer’s advice on how to clean the clean room panels. By using the right methods, it is easy to extend the service life of your clean room.
Figure 16 Clean Room Panel Packing and shipping
Zonsteel packages the panels depending on the type of panel. In most cases, the company uses light plywood trays and heavy iron trays as the two options to package and ship the clean room panels.
To protect the corners of the clean room panels, Zonsteel uses angle steel brackets and a membrane. These two are important to keep the corners from damaging even during transportation. Additional protection might be added depending on how far the package has to go and handled. The aim is to make sure that the clean room panel gets to you when it is still in the right condition.
Clean rooms are essential to provide a user with the right environment to get several tasks accomplished. It is good to know that Zonsteel is a top brand with the right clean room panels that you need to set up a clean room. Regardless of what you hope to achieve, the team at Zonsteel is ready to help you identify the best clean room panels for your application. The best thing you can do is contact the company to learn more about the clean room panels if you still have more questions.
For more information cleanroom wall systems, please get in touch with us!