Equipment
Trapping Airborne Molecules -- Part 2: Mechanisms
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
Clean air and gases are critical for many industrial processes.
Trapping Airborne Molecules: Molecular Filters, Gas Purifiers - Part 1
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
“AMC filters don’t work.” “We don’t need to trap AMC’s.” These facile sentiments impede progress in critical applications.
When Good Gas Goes Bad: Gas Purifiers At Work
By Maggie Y. M. Lee, Lita Shon-Roy
Once obsessed with metallic impurity levels, reducing variations in the delivered gas purity has become the primary focus of contamination control engineers managing gas distributions systems. When used correctly at bulk sources or at the point-of-use, gas purifiers can remove harmful impurities down to the ppt range.
Case Study: Exhaust Duct Decontamination Using Chlorine Dioxide Gas
By Kevin Lorcheim, Mark A. Czarneski
The exhaust ductwork in a laboratory at a major pharmaceutical company in North Carolina needed replacement. Since the ductwork was used to exhaust BSCs for testing on HIV and HCV, special precautions would be required during the demolition.
Cleaning With CO2: A Heartening Experience
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about real critical cleaning cleaning (flushing) of human wound cavities of air with gaseous CO2. These cavities are naturally full of air during cardiopulmonary bypass operations with an empty heart, and other open wounds.
Tracking Ammonia, HF, H2S, HCI, and Other Trace Gases
By Aaron Van Pelt
Industries as diverse as semiconductor fabrication and aluminum smelting can benefit from the simplicity and ppt sensitivity of Wavelength-Scanned Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy.
Water Versus Solvents Part 2: Process Trends, Selection, The Future
By Barbara Kanegsberg
In Part 2 of this montage of the cleaning industry, our experts discuss trends in cleaning processes and factors in cleaning agent selection. They then venture a look into the future.
Water Versus Solvents, Part 1: A Complex Landscape
By Barbara Kanegsberg
Twelve experts offer their viewpoints on the current state and future outlook of critical cleaning and contamination control.
Optical Properties of Trivalent Praseodymium Doped in a Polymeric Plastic Environment
By Dhiraj K. Sardar, Ph.D.,, Anthony Sayka
A Pr3+: HEMA based laser module has the potential for numerous biomedical and semiconductor applications because of its unique physical and optical properties.
Are The Cleaning Agents Clean Enough? Part III: Solvents
By Ed Kanegsberg, Barbara Kanegsberg
For critical products, particularly products assembled in a cleanroom or other controlled environment, the purity and cleanliness of the liquids used for cleaning and assembly are every bit as important as the quality of the air.
High Solubility or Low Surface Tension—Take Your Pick
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about compromise—why it’s chemically impossible to have the solvent you want.
Will Ionic Liquids be Useful Cleaning Chemicals?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Most familiar cleaning solvents (e.g., water, ethanol, hexa-ne, etc.) are molecular. That is, regardless of whether they are polar or non-polar, they are basically constituted of molecules. Ionic liquids are different.
Iodide: Not Yet Ready For Prime Time
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about yet another halogen-based cleaning solvent. It’s not another hydrocarbon structure festooned with chlorine atoms, or an attempt to forestall global warming with a fluorinated ether, or a brominat-ed solvent about which there is controversy over its flash point.
“Non-chemical” Cleaning
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
A wide range of cleaning processes, commonly referred to as “non-chemical” cleaning, do not involve immersion or spray of a liquid.
Outgassing
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
In outgassing, one or more vaopr phase contanimants that have been trapped in a product or component are released. At first glance, this might seem like a non-problem.
Real-time Gas Analysis for Quick Accurate Catalyst Testing
By Tim Robinson, Martin L. Spartz, Ph. D., Peter Rosenthal, Ph. D.
Currently, performance evaluations for new catalysts require numerous types of analytical instruments to quantify all species of interest across a range of compositions and load conditions. The expense involved in purchasing and maintaining these instruments, as well as the difficulty in obtaining accurate measurements in a timely fashion, has driven researchers to look for alternatives.
New Considerations in High Purity Chemical Distribution
By Steve Yellin, Doug Hodge, Matthew J. Hearon
As the microelectronics industry moves into ever increasing miniaturization, the requirements for the amount and purity levels of chemicals being provided to support these technology changes are dramatic.