What is the best Stainless steel grade for making Cleanroom equipments?

Cleanroom environments are the most sensitive areas, thereby requiring accurate care and precision. Cleanroom equipments must be carefully chosen to ensure low levels of airborne particles. Particularly crucial across sectors such as semiconductor, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, food processing, and medical subfields. Given that this equipment must meet stringent requirements for cleanliness and corrosion resistance, stainless steel stands out as an air flow equipments. 

Unlike other types, stainless steel is hygienic and can withstand harsher cleaning agents. However, among stainless steel variations, there are specific grades of the highest quality, best suited for cleanroom applications. 

What are Airflow and Cleanroom Equipments?

To understand the best cleanroom air flow equipments, here are some of their top features- 

• Resistance to Corrosion

Corrosion can react with the exposed subject. So, to prevent such possibilities, equipment is repeatedly cleaned using chemicals. Thereby, a high level of corrosion resistance will ensure that it has longevity even after exposure to moisture. 

• Non-Reactivity

Non-reactive equipment is something that helps with durable experiments. The stainless steel cleanroom equipment you choose must not corrode, leach particles, or be reactive to biological or chemical agents. 

• Better Finishing

Finishing is important because it gives a sophisticated look to the equipment. When the surface is smooth and non-porous, it can facilitate easy cleaning free from contamination. 

• Sturdiness

How durable a utensil or assistive equipment is for a clean room depends on its ability to withstand repeat use. You should be able to use the equipment repeatedly with regular sterilization cycles. 

• Cleanliness

You should use the chosen equipment very carefully. That means, particularly, it must match the cleaning protocols, such as washing them with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol. Other than that, people also use chlorine-centric disinfectants for autocleaning. 

Stainless Steel 304 for General Cleanroom Use 

The popularly used air flow equipments and cleanroom purposes are the AISI 304 stainless steel material. This stainless steel are well-known as it contain 18% chromium and 8% nickel proportions. It offers an outstanding formidability and corrosion resistance. They can avoid corrosion in most oxidized environments, including the typical cleanroom conditions. In addition to welding, SS 304 is good for pass boxes, benches, and laminar flow cabinets. They are highly formidable in that way. Also, stainless steel 304 is more economical compared to the 316 SS cleanroom equipments. You can consider it for larger-scale production purposes. 

The finishing of Stainless steel 304 makes it the most suitable, with a clean and polished surface. The mirror satin finish upsurges the appearance and cleanability. 

Stainless Steel 316 Equipment 

To improve the corrosion resistance of cleanroom equipments, Grade 316 stainless steel types are recommended. It contains approximately. 3% of molybdenum, which helps avoid corrosion mainly against harsher chemicals like chlorides. Specially for critical cleanroom zones, this makes them a better choice than the cleaning agents. The plus points about 316 Grade stainless steel are their sterile, high-end cleanrooms, like ISO Class 5 or better. Also, due to its superior corrosion resistance, it offers better long-term durability and fewer maintenance issues. 

These air flow equipments is reliable as it can bear the repeated high-end cleaning cycles. The only downside is that they are more expensive than 304 grades and are a bit more difficult to fabricate than the other variations.

FAQ

• Why are surface finish types for cleanability? 

For the cleanroom equipments, surface finish along with the SS Grades determines a lot of other things. They are either based on a brushed No. 4 finish or an electropolished finish. No. 4 finish offers a smooth surface and is easy to clean; People often use it for cleanroom furniture and wall panels. The other is the electropolished surfacing offering an ultra-smooth mirror finish. It helps remove microscopic peaks and valleys, thereby reducing particle adhesion and microbial growth. Both pharmaceutical and biotech sectors prefer it.

End Words

To sum up, both grades 304 and 310 are ideal when it comes to top cleanroom equipments. The best choice among them depends on the chemical exposure, application, and the overall budget constraints. When you have moderate corrosion exposure, then use 304; otherwise, for longevity and sterile zones, SS grade 316 is the perfect option to opt for.