Qualify AMC Filters & Protect Clean Rooms

amc filter clean room qualification
November 11, 2020 | Posted By: Jan Fischer

AMC Filtration for Contamination Control

Airborne molecular contamination (AMC), or chemical contamination, is the presence of gases or vapors in the atmosphere that may have a detrimental effect on process, equipment, and product in cleanrooms and controlled environments. AMC is a concern for the semiconductor industry, wafer fabrication, hard drive manufacturing, and other high technology manufacturing processes (reference ISO 14644-8 classification of airborne molecular contamination). AMC filtration is one of the methods used to control chemical contamination, where contaminants are removed by adsorption, as the air passes through AMC media.

clean room operation

Airflow and Air Velocity Sensing for Contamination Control

Airflow and air velocity sensors play a major role in AMC filter selection, operation, and performance: 

  • R&D teams and filter manufacturers use °C Grid sensor array systems from Degree Controls to characterize filter performance and optimize designs by measuring air velocity and temperature at multiple points in real time. 
  • Certification teams use °C Point Anemometers to verify and validate system performance when commissioning AMC filters installed in air handlers or FFUs. 
  • Facilities managers use embedded probe style sensors to ensure that airflow per unit area of media is within the filter manufacturer’s specifications, so as not to compromise removal efficiency and lifetime. In addition, air velocity is measured on both sides of chemical filters installed in make up and recirculation air handling units to reduce the potential for AMC.

ISO/IEC 17025:2017 specifies general requirements for competence, impartiality and consistent operation of laboratories.

c grid visualizing hot spots in a clean room

Whether you manufacture AMC filters/FFUs, or use AMC filtration systems in clean spaces or assembly workstations, measuring and monitoring air velocity is indispensable to the environmental control needed to achieve contamination free manufacturing.  

Contact Degree Controls for airflow sensing and control products to improve your manufacturing environment and protect processes, equipment, and product from damage.

Demonstration Video:

About the Author

Jan Fischer

Having joined DegreeC in 2009, Jan has over a decade of experience consulting professionals in a wide range of industries on methods for using airflow sensors and instrumentation to collect data for testing and analysis.

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