Calculate contamination risk before you design your cleanroom.

The intelligent cleanroom risk engine for contamination-critical products.

Run your own simulation View example analysis

We use validated contamination models, not intuition, to assess risk and recommend cleanroom requirements.

Used in contamination sensitive product environments

Built for cleanroom professionals

Designed for professionals working with contamination-sensitive products in controlled environments:

Product and process developers
Quality engineers
Cleanroom managers
Production supervisors
Process engineers

To set and evaluate cleanliness requirements

From product specs to air cleanliness (cleanroom) requirements

Translate your product's contamination sensitivity into actionable cleanroom specifications. Based on ISO 14644 cleanroom standards.

The calculator determines for given vulnerabilities:

Maximum allowable particle deposition rates
Required local air cleanliness expressed as cleanroom class
Monitoring alarm limits

Three calculators in one

Choose the calculator that fits your situation:

Product Sensitivity: Discover air cleanliness and particle deposition rate requirement for various product contamination inputs
Cleanroom Capability: Evaluate the estimated performance of your current cleanroom setup
Monitoring Setup: Configure alarm thresholds for particle deposition sensors or measurement methods

Learn About Particle Deposition

Background theory, formulas, and detailed explanations

Product contamination calculator

Enter your product specifications to assess contamination risk

Product Name (optional)

Large critical particles

Large Critical Particle Size (μm)

Max Particles per Product

Acceptable on (% of products)

Maximum number of particles acceptable on a given percentage of products

Small critical particles Pro

Add a smaller particle size to refine the deposition rate analysis.

Small Critical Particle Size (μm)

Product specifications

Vulnerable Product Area

Vulnerable surface area that must stay clean

Area Unit

Time of Exposure

Time surface is exposed during operations (not at-rest)

Time Unit

How it works

1. Define particle vulnerabilities

Critical particle size derived from the smallest circle around particle silhouette under microscope. Consider impact on product functionality.

2. Calculate deposition rate limits

R_D = N_D/(A·T) number of particles ≥ D μm per m² per hour.

N_D is maximum acceptable number of particles on product
A is vulnerable product area
T is time of exposure of vulnerable product surface

Max acceptable number: Enter the maximum number of particles per product and the percentage of products on which they are acceptable. For example: 1 particle on 20% of products.

3. Assess contamination risk

Get Particle Deposition Rate Level and particle number limit per sample

Learn more

Cleanroom capability calculator

Calculate expected cleanroom performance and ISO classification

Cleanroom specifications

Cleanroom Area

Cleanroom Height

Air Supply

Ventilation Efficiency

Personnel parameters

Garment Level

Maximum Personnel

Activity Level

Process location Pro

Include Process Location Analysis

Changing room Pro

Include Changing Room

Changing Room Area

Changing Room Height

Changing Room Air Supply

Changing Room Ventilation Efficiency

Number of people at the same time

Minutes in street clothing

Minutes in cleanroom garments

How it works

1. Air Cleanliness Level

C₅ = S₅ ε · Q + C_{5 at rest} particles ≥ 5 μm per m³
In this calculation C_{5 at rest} is neglected

2. Personnel Source Strength

S₅ = activity level × average emission at low activity

Average emission depends on garment selection (Table)

3. Ventilation Efficiency

ε determines mixing efficiency: 0.5 (poor), 0.7 (typical), ≥1.0 (good ventilation)

4. Cleanroom ISO class

Classification based on particle concentration levels

At Process Location:

5. Particle deposition Rate Level

Empirical relation: air removable particles ≤ 40 μm

Learn more

Operational performance

Configure monitoring parameters and calculate event limits

Include data from other tabs

Product risk

Cleanroom

ROI

Monitoring method Pro

Select monitoring method

Select a measurement instrument to auto-configure sample parameters

Sample parameters Pro

Sample Time

Sample Time Unit

Sample Area

Sample Area Unit

Monitoring results

Monitoring configuration requires a Pro subscription

The monitoring calculator uses your product's particle deposition rate to determine sensor alarm limits. Upgrade to access the full product analysis and monitoring configuration.

Required alarm levels for particle deposition

Monitoring method configuration

Event limit resolution

View pricing details

ROI Calculator

Calculate the return on investment for cleanroom improvements

Currency

Production data Pro

Product Name (optional)

Annual Production (units/year)

Product Value (per unit)

Current contamination costs Pro

Current Scrap Rate (%)

Percentage of products rejected due to contamination

Cost per Scrapped Unit

Defaults to product value if left empty

Field Failure Rate (%)

Products failing at customer due to contamination

Cost per Field Failure

Warranty, recall, return costs per incident

Downtime Cost (per hour)

Optional: production line downtime cost

Downtime Hours (per year)

Optional: hours lost to contamination issues

Investment parameters Pro

CAPEX Investment

CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) - one-time investment in cleanroom improvements

Additional Annual OPEX (per year)

OPEX (Operational Expenditure) - recurring yearly cost

Target Scrap Rate after investment (%)

Expected scrap rate after cleanroom improvement

Target Failure Rate after investment (%)

Expected field failure rate after improvement

Analysis Period (years)

Discount Rate (%)

For NPV - adjusts future savings to today's value

ROI analysis

ROI analysis requires a Pro subscription

Calculate the return on investment for cleanroom improvements with full scenario comparison, cashflow projections, and PDF reports.

Cost of contamination analysis

Investment scenario comparison

NPV & cashflow analysis

View pricing details

Overview

Products or processes that can be harmed by particle contamination need contamination control measures. A vulnerable product possesses one or more vulnerable surfaces that are important for its functionality.

Major Contamination Mechanisms

Deposition of particles from the air onto vulnerable surfaces
Transfer of particles from another surface during contact
Contamination of potential contact surfaces by particle deposition

Surface Cleanliness Requirements

When there is a surface cleanliness requirement, the maximum acceptable number of particles is determined by the difference between final surface cleanliness and initial surface cleanliness.

About INSIGHTS: This is a trial-and-error module that offers insight into the required particle deposition rate limit for a product or process, the require air cleanliness and the capability of a potential cleanroom.

Particle Deposition Process

Particle deposition is the deposition of particles from the air onto surfaces. Before deposition, these particles were in the air.

Physical Forces at Play:

Gravitation: Causes downward movement depending on particle mass
Shape resistance: Cross-section area perpendicular to movement direction opposes gravitational forces
Sedimentation velocity: Net result calculated by Stokes law (with corrections for submicron and visible particles >=75 um)
Turbulence: Can add momentum to particles
Air movement: Influences particle trajectory

Particle Settling

Particles settle due to gravity, opposed by shape resistance

Residence Time Factor: When the residence time of surrounding air pockets in a room is smaller than the time to deposit, particles will most likely not deposit unless the air pocket strikes a surface or passes an electrostatically charged surface before leaving the room.

Surface Contamination Factors

The likelihood of contamination depends on:

Particle deposition rate
Area of the vulnerable surface
Time of exposure of the vulnerable surface

Contamination Control Principles

To control deposition of unwanted particles, both exposure time and particle deposition rate should be limited.

Particle Deposition Rate Factors

Cleanliness of air supplied to the room
Air volume supply rate
Ventilation efficiency
Effective air change rate
Personnel emissions (garments, behavior, activities)
Equipment emissions
Work procedures
Cleaning program and surface cleanliness

Critical Considerations

Particle size that is not accepted should ideally be zero, but this leads to unrealistic rates
Look for the largest particle size that can sometimes be accepted
Select a second particle size accepted in low numbers
Expected average time of exposure in hours

Effective Air Change Rate Formula:

Effective ACR = Ventilation Efficiency x Air Supply (m3/h) / Room Volume

Cleanroom Design Principles

The air volume supply rate to a cleanroom determines the air cleanliness level for a given source strength. Clean air dilutes particle concentration, with dilution depending on ventilation efficiency.

Key Design Factors:

Air Flow: Carries airborne particles out of the cleanroom
Air Change Rate: Air volume supply rate divided by room volume
Ventilation Efficiency: Determines average residence time of supplied air
Residence Time: Determines whether particles can deposit

Clean Air Supply

HEPA filtered air dilutes particle concentration

Personnel Source Strength

Garment Type	≥0.5 µm	≥5 µm	≥50 µm
Street clothes	5,000,000	500,000	50,000
Cleanroom smock + covers	2,000,000	100,000	5,000
Coverall	250,000	5,000	50
Full cleanroom suit	150,000	2,500	10
Undergarments + full suit	50,000	1,000	2

*Particles per minute with low activity. Multiply by 2, 3, or 4 for medium, high, or extreme activity levels.

Ventilation Efficiency Values:

Bad ventilated cleanroom: ε = 0.5
Most non-unidirectional cleanrooms: ε = 0.7
Good cleanroom: ε ≥ 1.0

References

ISO 14644-1:2015 - Classification of air cleanliness by particle concentration
ISO 14644-2:2015 - Monitoring to provide evidence of cleanroom performance
ISO 14644-4:2022 - Design, construction and start-up
ISO 14644-17:2021 - Particle deposition rate applications
Strategieen voor Contamination Control & Productreinheid, VCCN

Cookie Name	Purpose	Duration	Type
`csrftoken`	Security protection against cross-site request forgery	1 year	Essential
`sessionid`	Stores your calculation results temporarily	Session only	Essential
`cookie_consent`	Remembers your cookie consent choice	180 days	Essential
`referral_code`	Tracks which partner referred you to our platform	90 days	Functional
`_ga, _ga_*`	Google Analytics - anonymous usage statistics	2 years	Analytics

Calculate contamination risk before you design your cleanroom.

Built for cleanroom professionals

From product specs to air cleanliness (cleanroom) requirements

Three calculators in one

Product contamination calculator

Large critical particles

Small critical particles Pro

Product specifications

Calculation results

How it works

1. Define particle vulnerabilities

2. Calculate deposition rate limits

3. Assess contamination risk

Cleanroom capability calculator

Cleanroom specifications

Personnel parameters

Process location Pro

Changing room Pro

Cleanroom results

How it works

1. Air Cleanliness Level

2. Personnel Source Strength

3. Ventilation Efficiency

4. Cleanroom ISO class

At Process Location:

5. Particle deposition Rate Level

Operational performance

Include data from other tabs

Monitoring method Pro

Sample parameters Pro

Monitoring results

Monitoring configuration requires a Pro subscription

ROI Calculator

Production data Pro

Current contamination costs Pro

Investment parameters Pro

ROI analysis

ROI analysis requires a Pro subscription

We value your privacy