Page 23 - ISCC'22

October 11-13,
50 YOUNG PROFESSIONAL
2022 Antalya TURKIYE | 2022
23

INTRODUCTION
In 2019 Covid-19 pandemic, one of the largest health cri- Abstract:
se in the last decades, has pinpointed the problem of Productions in clean environments such as clean-
airborne virus transmission and in general of airborne rooms have been usually developed in single floor
contamination within indoor environments, places usual- process to keep the flow path of personnel, materials
ly less sensitive to ventilation and contamination control and products within the same clean environment
(Morawska, Allen, & Bahnfleth, 2021), (Somsen, van Rijn, and level. Vertical connection systems in clean envi-
Kooij, Bem, & Bonn, 2020), (Smith, 2013).
ronments exist and are used by personnel through
On the contrary, industries where clean productions are clean stairs, by processes through closed loops, and
carried out since many decades are fully aware of the
contamination problem, disregarding its nature (inert, for handling of products or semifinished products.
microbiological, chemical, radioactive) or its way of prop- The latter ones are commonly treated with prop-
agation (air, surface, liquid, products or whatsoever). In er clean boxes or wrapped with protection shields
those sectors highly ruled, controlled environments such because the environments of the vertical handling
as cleanrooms are commonly used as production envi- systems are generally not contamination controlled.
ronments able to control contamination guaranteeing The work presented will aim with the design, the
products quality and personnel safety respecting strict construction, and TCV process of a vertical clean
standards, GLs and laws (ISO 14644-1, 2015), (US Food and
Drug Administration, 2004), (EU-GMP- Annex 1, 2008). lift class ISO7 which connects separated production
cleanrooms operating with different HVAC systems.
Productions in clean environments have been usually de- The clean vertical transportation system designed
veloped in single floor process to keep the flow path of
personnel, materials and products within the same clean can satisfy both products and personnel logistic at
environment and level. Vertical connection systems in once maintaining the desired degree of air cleanli-
those environments are ness. The peculiarity of the cabin lift, airlocks, and
used by personnel through clean stairs and by processes shaft’s ventilation system coupled with the environ-
through closed loops. mental monitoring control and interlocking systems
installed assures a unique, robust and redundant
Generally, or at least for most of the cleanroom produc-
tion facilities, vertical automatic transportation such as safety ventilation approach for the contamination
elevator are not clean and not controlled environments. control of the clean environments. This solution en-
Therefore, handling of products or semifinished products visages a lean manufacturing concept which will help
by different facility floors is possible, unless the goods are clean production processes in connecting different
properly prepared, wrapped and packed in contamination cleanroom floors saving time, increasing productivity,
proof boxes for transportation between different floors of reducing man or AGV work and reducing foot-print
the production facility. Few researches and studies have
been conducted on the possibility to use a clean eleva- for packaging used for internal handling while guar-
tor for products and personnel transportation. A Chinese anteeing a high degree of safety for personnel and
study (Wang, et al., 2012) presented a theoretical work on for product quality.
a clean elevator prototype giving info and comments on
the general characteristics and peculiarities that the new
devices should have, without going so deep into details.
However, the study was primordial and lacked of details,
logic control and specs to be used in a real cleanroom production factory. Only, after the Covid-19 outbreak, the researcher
communities started to put interest into ventilation and contamination control within elevators (Van Rijn, et al., 2020 )
and (ISO 8100-32:2020, 2020). (Liu, et al., 2022) carried out a numerical study on the probability of infection related to
the infection dose which people can get while riding a lift in function of ACH and of air diffusion direction. Conclusions
shown that the higher the ACH, the better the cleaning effect in the cabin lift. In addition in this work, it is stated that
by having an extraction air close to the ceiling, there is a better and smoother particle distribution within the cabin lift,
and less probability to have a high infection dose while riding a lift with other people. An interesting paper (Van Der
Aa, Claessen, Van Der Spoel, & Van Der Velde, 2021) in REHVA Journal proposed a novel prototype of civil elevator with
downward flow ventilation system, which largely reflects the ventilation principles used in cleanroom environments.
However, for matter of space and aesthetics the solution proposed considered air extraction from the confined space
only at one side, having therefore a prevalent air and contaminants direction not well designed.