Microelectronics
Who Is To Blame For Critical Cleaning?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This is one of those columns you have to read (and write) every couple of years or so.
Materials Compatibility Basics
By Ed Kanegsberg, Barbara Kanegsberg
You Know Materials Compatibility Problems When You See Them
Back To Basics - How Cleaning Really Works, Part II
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
In the last C4 column, I started my contribution to compliance with Controlled Environment’s 2010 editorial calendar by communicating some of the basics behind cleaning science.
Point of View: Facilities Cleanliness Requirements
By Scott Mackler
When the solution is simple, God is answering. - Albert Einstein
Back To Basics -- How Cleaning Really Works, Part 1
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
An attempt to communicate–that’s what this column is. Cleaning science is an amalgam of chemistry, engineering, and experience which can be complicated.
Contamination Detection Basics
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
How much cleaning needs to occur? How do you know that the component is sufficiently clean? Challenge assumptions. It’s the most effective way to improve surface quality, increase yield, and minimize the occurrence of product failure.
Cleanrooms and Energy
By Barbara Kanegsberg, Ed Kanegsberg
Cleanrooms are expensive, and energy consumption is a major cost item in operation and maintenance.
The MSDS Whipsaw
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Last month, I promised that I would comply with the Editor’s plan to cover “basics” in this calendar year. But I am going to interrupt that worthwhile endeavor to cover an ongoing process that is sure to affect you.
Changes Affecting EU GMP and The FDA's CGMP Non-Viable Particle Cleanliness in Cleanrooms
By Tony Harrison
What the revisions to ISO 14644 may mean to your cleanroom
Back to Pre-Basics
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
The pre-basics are simply doing what one, or an organization, is expected to do. In other words, to stop doing “unthoughtful” things.
More Transparency...But For Whom?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
In my 25-year career with a major global chemical company I learned a few things... the flow of information between suppliers and EPA is mostly unidirectional. However, transparency in regulation favors the public and is good policy.
Great Clean Manufacturing Bloopers of All Time, Act 2
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This is the second and final act of an article published several years ago on unforgettable clean manufacturing stories.
Great Clean Manufacturing Bloopers of All Time, Act I
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Some time ago, I participated in an article on unforgettable clean manufacturing stories. I was joined by contributors Ken Goldstein, Lise Laurin, and Scott Mackler who generously offered tales of mishaps and snafus they had witnessed over their careers.
Trust, but Verify
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about judgment, with my not apparently having any; and oh, yes, about the scientific literature being flawed.
Where Does Your Management Get Its Information?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This is a column about the role of information in risk management. If your managers read, this column applies to YOU...
Facebook For Atoms
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Group contribution methods allow one to estimate some physical and chemical properties of molecules. We do this in a screening effort when we don’t have time or resources to make measurements.
Equilibrium vs Kinetics: Is the Difference Important to You?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
We often take measurements. We want to know how much of something we have or don’t have. It’s what we technologists do.
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.
What Price Chemical Management? What is OK? Who Decides? And How?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Launched in April 2007, California’s “Green Chemistry” regulations are administered by the CAL/EPA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).
Water: A Starting Point
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
Back in October 2007, we wrote about how significant water is to life, and how hydrogen-bonding intermolecular forces enable that. Essential as it is, however, water alone isn’t sufficient for cleaning work. We have to add something to it, or take something away.
An Electronic Nose For Cleanliness Detection
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is a sequel to last month’s about electronic noses. We suggest that one might consider an electronic nose, supplemented by a source of radiative heat and a programmable computer, as a no-contact detector for surface cleanliness.
The "Nose" Knows: HSP in Action
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about “artificial olfaction.” That’s a term used by European scientists to describe an “electronic nose.”
Maybe Heisenberg Was Wrong, And Einstein Right?
By John B. Durkee, Ph.D., P.E.
This column is about one of this author's favorite guidelines, especially useful in the management of critical cleaning. I call it Heisenberg's Law of Cleaning, after Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg who formulated what came to be called Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
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.