What is a White Room?
If you have worked with a sensitive product or material, you have likely heard of a cleanroom before. Cleanrooms are controlled environments where you can produce products or store end products by ensuring airborne particles are controlled. They are often an ideal solution when dealing with medical equipment, delicate hardware, etc. However, there is another term that you may hear instead of a cleanroom – a white room.
White rooms fulfill a very similar function to a cleanroom. They are also sanitary rooms with tightly controlled environmental conditions; however, a white room is not the same as a cleanroom. Knowing the difference between these two products is essential to ensuring you have the right environment for your needs.
What makes a White Room different from a Cleanroom?
The primary difference between these two rooms is the strictness of their operations and regulations. Cleanrooms must abide by the International Standards Organization (ISO) standards. As such, they are extremely strict about regulating particulate matter, such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles, and chemical vapors. This makes it perfect for instances such as food packaging, where the risk of bacterial or viral contamination must be minimal.
A white room, on the other hand, does not have to abide by the same strict standards. White rooms are primarily designed to control temperature, humidity, and dust. They still create a tightly controlled environment, but they are ideal for instances where extreme sanitation isn't required.
How Do White Rooms Work?
White rooms rely on a robust HVAC system to maintain their controlled environment. This system includes filters to remove unnecessary airborne contaminants, ensuring a clean workspace. Various protocols are in place to minimize the risk of cross-contamination, maintaining the integrity of the products manufactured or packaged within the white room.
Key Components of White Rooms
Positive Internal Pressure: White rooms are typically a positive pressure environment. A room under positive pressure means that the air pressure inside the room is higher than the air pressure on the outside. So, whenever the room envelope is opened, airflow is from the cleanroom into the rest of the facility. This airflow helps prevent unwanted particles from entering the cleanroom whenever employees enter or exit the facility, maintaining your desired cleanliness level.
HVAC Filtration: Cleanrooms often use ULPA and HEPA filters. These filters maintain a controlled environment by removing up to 99.9% of the total number of particles in the air using various airflow techniques. Anterooms may be required to create a buffer zone between a high-level cleanroom and the outside air to achieve a higher-level cleanroom environment.
Wall Facings: Vinyl-covered gypsum and Non-Porous FRP Wall Facings, preventing the accumulation of particles in hidden places.
Sticky Mats: These mats help keep dirt, grime, and dust from entering the white room.
White Room Applications
With its sanitary environment and relatively easy assembly, white rooms are ideal for various delicate processes. White rooms have been used for:
- Medical Equipment Packaging
- Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Electronics Manufacturing
- Aerospace Engineering
- And more.
Modular offers the advantage
Panel Built white rooms use a panelized hardwall system design, similar to our modular office systems. These hardwall white rooms allow you to create individual rooms within your system, creating anterooms, gowning rooms, and other specialized spaces for your needs.
For more information on our sanitation solutions, contact our team at 800.636.3873, email info@panelbuild.com, or talk to us using the LiveChat feature at the bottom right of your screen.
From modular offices to military tower systems, Panel Built has experience engineering, designing, and installing structures for various commercial, military, government, and industrial customers. Panel Built operates under one mission, "To Solve Our Customers' Space Needs With Excellence And Great Customer Service."
