Pass-Through Chambers

Terra Universal is a manufacturer and supplier of various cleanroom pass-through chambers and pass-through transfer windows that readily support healthcare, hospitals, and surgical environments.

The last thing you need is your lab equipment rusting out on you. When considering your specific application needs for new stainless steel equipment, a recurring question in the market remains—what’s the difference between 304 and 316? When should you consider 316? In scenarios demanding the utmost vigilance, you may discover you require 316L stainless steel.

304 Stainless steel is composed of 18% chromium and 8% nickel. 316 Stainless steel is made up of chromium and nickel at 16% and 10% respectively, but also includes molybdenum—a silvery-white metal that’s highly resistant to corrosion.

316L Stainless steel contains the same corrosion-resistant materials as 316, but includes the added benefit of a lower carbon content—eliminating the opportunity for excessive metallic contamination and making cracking less likely. Both 316 and 316L are able to withstand chlorides and chlorinated solutions, such as Spor-Klenz® and Isopropyl Acetate.

Passthrough chambers are used in cleanrooms and controlled environments across countless industries and applications. Passthrough cabinets have many benefits. Aside from reducing foot traffic in controlled areas, they also help meet special cleanliness, safety, and security requirements in different industries. For instance, pharmaceutical cleanrooms require compliance with USP <797> and USP <800> guidelines for compounding sterile medications and hazardous drugs. Other cleanrooms and labs handling biohazards require similar strict sterilization protocols, plus autoclave-safe designs. Facilities manufacturing sensitive electronics may not require frequent sterilization, but may have other special requirements for ESD-safety and controlled air spaces to minimize particle counts inside the cleanroom.

Pass-through chambers streamline workflow by giving personnel a fast, efficient way to transfer objects into, and out of, spaces with different ISO ratings. Facilities save man-hours and expense by avoiding time-consuming gowning. How else can pass-through chambers help the lab’s bottom line?

High-speed roll-up cleanroom doors for fast, clean transfer of personnel and large equipment (using pallet jacks, hand trucks or casters for mobility) are already available from Terra Universal. New from the leader in modular cleanrooms, however, is the same space-saving door configured as a pass-through chamber. A touch-screen control panel allows automatic push-button opening and closing of roll-up doors on either side. Transfer of large or unwieldy equipment or supplies in and out of the cleanroom becomes faster and easier.

Materials get transferred into and out of cleanrooms all the time. The value of pass-through chambers is well-known, and labs count on them for continuity of their workflow and certification status. Without an efficient method of clean movement between rooms of different classifications, some facilities would be out of business.

While personnel can enter and exit the room through designated doorways, it’s not feasible for them to bring samples, supplies, carts and equipment with them. Besides the cleanliness problem of excessive object handling, the donning and doffing of garb would be time-consuming and expensive.

The Value of Pass-Through Chambers

Terra pass-through chambers come in many formats, but some of the basic features are the same. For example, interlocks prevent both doors from being open simultaneously. Why is this important? If both sides of the pass-through are open, contaminated

You install a pass-through chamber to reduce cross-contamination between classified and unclassified areas, but what if your pass-through could do more? Terra Universal’s double-wall Smart Pass-Through^TM is the first to offer unique, state-of-the-art service alerts and condition-monitoring technology. This translates into time and cost savings, plus increased efficiency. Keep reading to find out more about the ways that the Smart Pass-Through guarantees the cleanliness you’re paying for.

Service Chimes

The door status alert chimes are specifically designed to ensure compliance with cleanroom protocol. These notifications indicate when

• The interlock is activated