What is ESD?
Electric charges appear everywhere. When walking on carpet, when driving a car,
electrostatic charges are created when you put on a pullover and wherever there is friction.
Anyone who unexpectedly suffers an electric shock when touching an object experiences ESD
or the "Electro Static Discharge" on your own body. It is a common phenomenon and basically harmless.
But in the laboratory or in the manufacture of electronic components, ESD has a destructive effect.
These discharges are fatal in an ESD workplace: Even if people cannot feel them, they can
destroy fine products such as semiconductors or micro circuits. This defect is not visible but renders the product unusable.
Without ESD protection, it is therefore possible that you unknowingly deliver damaged goods.
Accordingly, it is important to set up the workplace in such a way that all voltages are discharged and sensitive products
cannot be affected. This applies above all to the electrical and engineering sectors.
ESD can be even more devastating when handling gases or highly flammable materials.
Just a spark is enough to start a fire. In such a working environment, ESD protection not only contributes to the protection of the work equipment, but also to the safety of the employees.
ESD occurs when objects discharge onto others.
So should the build-up of static charge be prevented to avoid ESD? No, because that is not possible.
Instead of the charge, the discharge must be considered. This is because the danger lies in uncontrolled discharge.
If the voltage is discharged in a controlled manner, no sparks are produced. To achieve this, charges must be permanently discharged into the ground. If people, furniture and work equipment are permanently earthed, ESD protection is effective.
You can achieve this goal by using the right materials in an ESD protected area.
An ESD-compliant workplace consists of:
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Conductive chair and work table
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Conductive work surface
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Conductive floor mat or conductive flooring
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Wrist earthing strap
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Earthing device for the entire workplace
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Labeling plate
We manufacture work chairs, stools and standing aids with special ESD equipment and will be happy to advise you.
What is a cleanroom?
A clean or ultra-clean room is a room in which the concentration of airborne particles is kept very low.
Clean and ultra-clean rooms are required for special manufacturing processes - especially in semiconductor production - where particles in the normal ambient air would disrupt the structuring of integrated circuits by a fraction of a micrometer. Other applications of cleanrooms or cleanroom technology can be found in optics and laser technology, aerospace technology, life sciences and medical research and treatment, research and aseptic production of food and pharmaceuticals and in nanotechnology.
A cleanroom is designed in such a way that the number of airborne particles that are introduced into the room or generated there is as low as possible.
Depending on the application, only the number of particles or also the number of germs is monitored, as is necessary in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, for example. Other parameters such as temperature, humidity and pressure are usually also kept constant in order to create comparable conditions at all times.
In order to create the required conditions, various processes are used to prevent unwanted particles from entering the air and to remove particles that are already in the air. As people are generally the biggest source of particles and other contaminants, appropriate work clothing, special work equipment and tools, as well as the corresponding work technology, help to maintain the specified cleanroom class. For example, there is special cleanroom paper, cleanroom clothing, head covers and shoe covers.