Realization of an ISO 5 cleanroom in only 5 days!

A consortium of specialist companies makes the impossible possible!

Created by Dipl.-Ing. (TU) Stefan Merkle

07/23/2024

“What is not possible for one person, can be achieved by many.”

Clean room filter wall Merkle CAE — Figure 1: Intermediate status after the filter wall has been installed.

This quote from Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen succinctly describes what a consortium of several companies has achieved and what is unparalleled worldwide.

But first things first:

OHB System AG is one of Europe's leading space technology companies. The systems provider is part of the listed high-tech group OHB SE, in which more than 3,000 highly qualified employees work primarily on central European space programs. The Oberpfaffenhofen site covers the fields of optics, science and robotics.

OHB is currently realizing the ESA PLATO mission there. A new concept of a 4 x 4 x 3 m³ space telescope which will use a total of 26 individual cameras to search for and characterize Earth-like planets in our Milky Way from 2026.

Plato Cleanroom Space Merkle CAE — Picture 2: Plato in his new home.

A consortium consisting of the companies OHB, QleanAir, Hanselmann, Dastex, Merkle CAE Solutions, Panterra and Dorfner took up the challenge of realizing the required 16 x 10 x 6 m³ ISO5 clean room within a 5-day window between the completion of construction and the start of satellite integration.

Plato Space Cleanroom Merkle CAE — Figure 3: Plato in front of the filter wall from behind.

The project was accompanied by Panterra with cameras. You can see the resulting, almost 3-minute image film as follows:

Each of the companies involved made a unique contribution to the success of the overall project. Without this cooperation, the result would not have been possible in this time!
You will certainly have guessed it: Our part was the numerical simulation from the statics of the stage to the prediction and optimization of the flow field.

In the following, we will concentrate on the CFD simulation of the flow.

The question posed to the experts at Merkle CAE was, on the one hand, the basic flow in the clean room and the optimization of the filter arrangement in order to avoid unnecessary costs.

The satellite model was used to check whether backflow effects could occur, which could carry particles from the surrounding air. This could be avoided as part of the optimization tests.

Merkle CAE clean room aerospace flow analysis — Figure 4: Clean air flowing around the satellite.

Merkle CAE clean room image flow analysis — Figure 6: Flow in the center section.

The calculated flow results correspond very well with measurements taken on the finished cleanroom. After all, it was not the first cleanroom that we were able to realize numerically in cooperation with OHB.

In particular, Merkle CAE was once again able to prove that we are not only able to analyze real scenarios, even under considerable time pressure, on models of any complexity, but also to contribute promptly to the decision-making process as to which configurations are suitable from a cost point of view.

Merkle CAE clean room flow analysis aerospace from above — Figure 6: Flow from above.

I believe that it is not only advantageous in the aerospace industry to realize cleanrooms at this speed. The cleanroom concept developed by the consortium can be adapted quickly and comparatively inexpensively to a wide range of conditions.

Challenge us. We look forward to your inquiries!

Yours, Stefan Merkle