Tag: cleanroom

Do I need a Gen4 Ion Air Jet or Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle?

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

EXAIR has been making a comprehensive line of Static Eliminators for decades. Like any air blowing application, the first consideration in selection is the size & shape of the airflow that’s needed to get the job done. If you’re looking for a tight, focused airflow, we have four products to choose from: a Gen4 Ion Air Gun or Ion Air Jet, or an Intellistat Ion Air Gun or Ion Air Nozzle. So, the next step in selection is whether you want something operated by hand, or mounted in place:

The Ion Air Guns are just hand held & operated versions of the Ion Air Jets/Nozzles.

From there, it’s all about where you’re going to use it, and for what. First, let’s talk about the environment:

  • First off, neither of these can be used around flammable materials or gases. If you need a static eliminator for those kinds of areas, call us and we’ll provide some leads based on your specific requirements.
  • If you’re going to use it in a laboratory or cleanroom environment, the Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle is the clear choice, hands down. It has an ISO 14644-1 Class 5 Cleanroom classification. The stainless steel mounting bracket makes installation & positioning quick & easy.
  • For more industrial environments, consider the compact and rugged construction of the Gen4 Ion Air Jet. They have 1/8 NPT threads for the compressed air connection, and a 5ft cable to attach to the Power Supply. We can also provide them with Stay Set Hoses & Magnetic Bases for ease of mounting & positioning.

Then, details about the nature of the application will be considered:

  • To prevent nuisance shocks to personnel that have to handle the material, you can likely use either. The Gen4 Ion Air Jet DOES have a faster static dissipation rate: 0.18 seconds to dissipate 5,000V, but the Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle can dissipate the charge from 5,000 to 500V in 0.6 seconds. Either way, you need at least 2,000-3,000V for a noticeable ‘zap’ so if the charge is EXTREMELY high, AND you don’t have any more than a second or two, then we can make a case for the Gen4 Ion Air Jet. Otherwise, the environment is the deciding factor.
  • If you need to get the static charge to as low of a level as possible, the balanced ionized air stream from the Intellistat’s +/- 30V offset means it can reliably reduce the static charge to 100V or less, regardless of the material and where it falls on the triboelectric series. This is going to be especially important when you’re trying to prevent damage or faulty operation of sensitive electronics, for instance.
  • Some applications require not only ionized air, but a fairly strong flow of it. We did an Efficiency Lab test for a snack food maker recently where they need to blow open a plastic bag with a gusset on the bottom and set it upright on a conveyor. They also need it to remain open so they can fill it, so they need ionized air to remove static charge. The Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle blew the bag open and dissipated the static charge just fine, but it didn’t have the flow & force necessary to expand the gusset so the bag would sit upright. The Gen4 Ion Air Jet did it every time, though.

No matter what you need to remove static from, EXAIR can help. If you’d like to discuss your application and product selection, give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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EXAIR Products in the Semiconductor Industry

Published on by Jordan T ShouseLeave a comment

Manufacturers in semiconductor assembly and PCB production face strict cleanliness, throughput, and thermal-control requirements. EXAIRs compressed-air products, specifically our Air Knives and Vortex Tubes, and air amplifiers are proven, compact, and energy-efficient tools for precise blow-off, controlled cooling and heating for spot thermal conditioning and fume extraction. This Blog explains how EXAIR Super Air Knives and Vortex Tubes and Air Amplifiers address three common production needs: 

  1. Drying and particulate removal during lead frame processing with air knives. 
  1. Localized cooling/heating for functional PCB testing using Vortex Tubes. 
  1. Fume extraction during etching, cleaning and plating processes

I’ll cover technical fit, typical performance characteristics, and measurement/ROI considerations so engineers and plant managers can evaluate and implement these solutions. 

Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle in clean room, cleaning microchip parts before installation.

Super Air Knife and Success in the semiconductor lead frame manufacturing process.  

Typical use cases 

  • Removing rinse water or flux residues after cleaning 
  • Blowing off foreign matter, over spray, or machining debris prior to plating or die bonding. 
  • Drying prior to molding or coating operations. 
  • Static-assisted blow-off when combined with static eliminating product for electrostatically attracted particles. 

Why Super Air Knives? 

  • Uniform Laminar Sheet of air: delivers consistent, even blow-off across the width of a lead frame, reducing localized hot spots or mechanical damage. 
  • Adjustable force and flow: adjusting air pressure and shim size allow you to control force and volume so fragile wires or plated surfaces aren’t damaged. 
  • Entrainment & Efficiency: The knives are engineered so they entrain ambient air, increasing total developed flow and reducing compressed-air consumption compared to open pipes. 

Vortex Tubes for functional PCB testing / burn-in and thermal cycling

During in-line or bench functional testing, specific components or integrated circuits may overheat or require temperature conditioning to verify performance at the full range of the rated temperature specifications. Vortex Tubes give fast, localized cooling (or heating) without coolant loops, chillers, or plumbing intricacy. Subjecting devices to burn-in and thermal cycling stress helps products enter the field with confidence there will not be any preventable failures. Normally, environmental chambers are used for burn-in processes, but vortex tubes can help facilitate localized thermal ramps, corner stressing, or temporary additional cooling/heating when size, cost or availability of a full environmental chamber isn’t feasible.  

Why Vortex Tubes fit testing 

  • Instant cold/hot air from regular compressed air: no refrigeration system or refrigeration cycle; instantaneous on/off.  
  • No moving parts: high reliability and low maintenance for test fixtures. 
  • Local spot conditioning: focus cooling on integrated circuits or other small areas without cooling the entire board or fixture. 
  • Adjustable cold fraction: Vortex tubes can be tuned via the control valve to trade flow vs. temperature drop to meet testing conditions. 
Cooling or Heating with the Vortex Tube

Air Amplifiers for fume extraction and partial heat control during etching, cleaning and plating processes.

In semiconductor lead frame manufacturing, maintaining clean, particle-free environments is essential to ensure consistent product quality and process reliability. Processes such as flux cleaning, plating, molding, and soldering generate vapors, fumes, and fine particulates that can contaminate delicate components or compromise yields. EXAIR’s Super Air Amplifier provides an efficient, quiet, and maintenance-free solution for capturing and removing fumes, vapors, and airborne contaminants from sensitive production areas.

Why the Super Air Amplifier?
High-Volume Airflow Through Amplification

  • It uses a small amount of compressed air to entrain large volumes of ambient air multiplying total flow by up to 25 times.
  • Creates a strong, consistent vacuum draw ideal for capturing fumes and fine particulates at their source.

Energy Efficiency

  • Dramatically reduces compressed-air consumption compared to traditional vacuum or exhaust systems.
  • No electricity, motors, or moving parts, maintenance-free operation and long service life.

Compact and Versatile

  • Easy to integrate above process lines, in tool enclosures, or at conveyor transfer points.
  • Available in aluminum, stainless steel, and high-temperature materials for compatibility with cleanroom or chemical environments.
Model 120024 4″ Super Air Amplifiers are commonly used to exhaust smoke and fumes.

ROI and how to show value quantitatively  

  • Baseline metrics: scrap/rework rate, cycle time, compressed-air consumption, downtime for cleaning, and throughput. 
  • Pilot run: instrument a section of line with flow/force and temperature sensors for a 30 day trial. 
  • Key calculations: 
  • Reduced rework % × cost per part = direct savings. 
  • Throughput increase (parts/hr) × margin = additional revenue. 
  • Compressed-air energy reduction (compared to previous blow-offs) = kW savings (U.S. Department of Energy offers a benchmark of $0.25 per 1,000 SCF). 
  • Tangible benefits: throughput improvement, energy savings, reduced capital cost (vs. chillers/chambers), lower maintenance and smaller footprint. 

Conclusion  

EXAIR Super Air Knives, Vortex Tubes and air amplifiers are compact, reliable, and flexible products that can improve cleanliness, thermal testing, and throughput in semiconductor processes.  

  1. Select a process you think could be helped with an air knife, Vortex Tube or an air amplifier and take advantage of our 30-day money-back guarantee.  
  1. Validate throughput and quality improvements and calculate ROI. 
  1. Rollout with appropriate controls, filtration, and operator training.  

If you think any of our products can help you in your process, please reach out. We have a team of application engineers here M-F to answer your questions!

Jordan Shouse, CCASS

Application Engineer

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Static Elimination For Cleanrooms: The Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle

Published on by Russ BowmanLeave a comment

Cleanrooms (sometimes written as two words: “clean rooms”, and historically called “White Rooms” or “Dust-Free Rooms”) are engineered spaces where specialized equipment and procedures are used to maintain a very low concentration of contaminants. While certain levels of cleanliness are desirable for many processes, certain ones can be catastrophically affected by contamination. In the 1960’s, a physicist working for Sandia National Laboratories named Willis Whitfield pioneered the modern cleanroom. His designs focused on continuous filtration of the air inside. This was a real game changer for a number of industries like electronics, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and all kinds of scientific research facilities. They can be small – like a dedicated enclosure in a larger building or shop where one or two people perform benchtop testing, assembly, etc. They can also be enormous, like one of the earliest cleanrooms: a 70,000 square foot space at an RCA facility not far from here, in Cambridge, Ohio, where they made control equipment for some of the earliest intercontinental ballistic missiles in the U.S. military’s arsenal.

It should come as no surprise that equipment used in cleanrooms must comply to some demanding standards & specifications. To that end, ISO (The International Organization for Standardization) created ISO Standard 14644-1. It identifies nine Class Numbers, based on allowable particulate concentrations in a given volume of air. Here’s how it breaks those down:

Basically, the lower the Class Number, the cleaner the air. ISO 1 is often used in semiconductor manufacturing. Medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical facilities typically specify ISO 5 & 7.

Equipment used inside a cleanroom must be designed, and operated, so as to not increase particulate concentration limits above these limits. You wouldn’t want to use steel tools that are prone to rust, or electric tools with carbon brushes in the motors, for example.

EXAIR’s Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle was designed with these considerations in mind. They were tested by a third part independent laboratory and are classified for use in ISO Class 5 (or below) cleanrooms. This has made them especially popular in pharmaceutical laboratory use, as well as:

  • A local eyeglass & camera lens manufacturer uses them to ensure precision measurement instruments’ readings aren’t affected by any residual static charge caused by the grinding process.
  • A company that makes overlays for medical devices (IV pump controllers, patient monitoring devices…pretty much anything with pushbuttons you might find in a hospital room or a doctor’s office exam room) uses them to maintain compliance with their customers’ standards.
  • A number of food production facilities around the country use them to remove static from processed foods, and packaging containers, during filling operations.
  • A manufacturer of packaging machinery includes them on filling machines servicing the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Order before March 31, 2025 and receive a FREE AC Sensor with any qualifying Static Eliminator purchase.

Whether they’re in a cleanroom or not, the compact design, ease of installation & operation, air use efficiency, and quiet operation make them ideal for a range of static elimination applications. If you’d like to find out more the Intellistat Ion Air Nozzle (or its handheld version, the Intellistat Ion Air Gun), give me a call.

Russ Bowman, CCASS

Application Engineer
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ISO 14644-1 Cleanroom Designations

Published on by John BallLeave a comment

The number of clean room certificates is vast.  So, ISO narrowed this range to make a common standard, called ISO 14644.  This standard shows the maximum allowable particles per unit volume by micron size that can be permitted for certain industries.  This would include pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, quality control, laboratories, cosmetics, etc.  The chart for maximum particle concentrations is located in the sub-category, ISO 14644-1.  The classification is by number for easy reference.

A clean room recirculates the air inside the room and uses filters to remove the particles.  The filters can be made from either High Efficiency Particulate Air filter media, HEPA, or Ultra Low Penetration Air filter media, ULPA, depending on the quality required.  The lower the ISO number, the more cost involved in achieving such a status.  This will include entrance and exit requirements, clean room garments, and materials of construction.  Each class is divided into ISO numbers, ranging from 1 to 9. The class identifies the maximum limit for particulate size and quantity per cubic meter of air. The chart below showcases the size and the quantity breakdown.

The EXAIR IntelliStat® Air Guns and IntelliStat® Nozzles can be used in rooms that are ISO 5 and larger.  The IntelliStat product is designed for manual or hands-free operations to remove static and to clean surfaces.  It is a great product for quality checks, PCB manufacturing, cleaning glass lenses and medical devices without sacrificing the clean room requirements. 

EXAIR does have the capability to design and create specialized products as well to suit specific clean rooms. If you would like to discuss your production environment or blow-off application within a clean room, please contact an Application Engineer.    

John Ball
Application Engineer
Email: johnball@exair.com
Twitter: @EXAIR_jb