Traditional cleanroom and hygienic zone design has relied on historic design rules and experience, with assessment and validation against ISO standards and other regulatory conditions only possible at advanced stages through smoke tests and sensors following mock-up or construction.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables air flow within clean environments to be simulated during both concept and detailed design, providing visualisation, insight and guidance into:
- Dead spots of flow / stagnant zone where particulates or bio-material may settle
- Air temperatures due to heat sources within the room
- How to reduce energy consumption and number of air changes required per hour
- Ventilation design – where to position diffusers and vents
- Ideal positioning of sensors
- Comparative flow distribution for smoke test validation
As a “virtual smoke test”, air flow modelling enables multiple design iterations to be performed before significant cost or time is incurred, such as evaluating alternative vent and diffuser arrangements.
Furthermore, it provides much more data to assist your design decisions than a smoke test can alone. Indeed, air flow modelling can even be a valuable tool during proposals to give you and your end users confidence in the concepts put forward.
If you are involved in proposing, designing or modifying cleanrooms and hygienic zones (within manufacturing facilities), we can help you either develop your own inhouse air flow modelling capabilities or support your engineering activies through our comprehensive simulation consulting services.