A manufacturing environment contributes significantly to the ultimate quality of a product built within its boundaries. Skilled personnel are essential for a solid production process. But a clean environment clears the way for the best product quality possible, without performance-degrading contamination from the production line. For any manufacturing facility, environmental testing helps monitor and maintain a workplace that is healthy for employees and supports production of the highest-quality manufactured goods. By measuring and monitoring unseen invaders within a manufacturing environment, such as moisture and microminiature particles, contamination can be found and, hopefully, minimized to create the purest possible manufacturing environment conditions. Modern environmental test gear can probe the workplace with high sensitivity and accuracy while being compact enough to be carried where needed. With versatile digital interfaces, the environmental test equipment can be remotely operated under computer control and can feed test results to a manufacturing facility’s computers to optimize a production process.

When searching for a dependable environmental tester such as a humidity sensor, numerous factors should be considered such as an instrument’s response time, the gas flow rate that its pump provides, and its operating temperature range. For high measurement accuracy within challenging environments, sensors and measuring instruments should have high chemical resistance in environments with high concentrations of chemicals or cleaning agents.

Compact, lightweight instruments and accessories provide the portability to be brought to suspected contaminated areas within a facility for testing. With adequate on-board digital memory, they can also capture enough data for use by a manufacturing facility’s control computers. As can be seen from the following sampling of environmental testers at Transcat, modern environmental test solutions are portable but powerful and are designed to survive the most hostile operating environments. 

Hands-On Testing: The Unsung Heroes of High-Quality Manufacturing

For users seeking contamination-free production lines and cleanrooms, the TSI AeroTrak™ 9306 Handheld Particle Counter packs tremendous measurement power into a portable unit designed for one-hand operation. Equipped with downloadable software, it can measure airborne particles from 0.3 to 25.0 μm at a flow rate of 0.1 CFM (2.83 L/min). It is calibrated for high accuracy using NIST-traceable polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres.

Measuring particles with the aid of a long-life laser diode, the particle counter can track particle contamination to a source, showing particle-count test results on a 3.6-in. (9.1-cm) color touch-screen display. It includes a built-in printer to create documentation, and data ports for wireless interconnections with external printers and computers. The 9306 can generate pass/fall reports for numerous standards, including ISO 14644-1, EU GMP Annex 1, and FS209E, and it complies with the requirements of ISO 21501-4. It is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery. 

For measuring moisture in gases and non-aqueous liquids when used with suitable moisture probes, the Panametrics PM880 Portable Hygrometer also runs on a rechargeable battery pack. It can measure moisture and pressure as high as 3000 psig (207 bar) or 5000 psig (345 bar) depending upon attached sensor. Calibrated to NIST-traceable moisture concentrations, the portable tester also measures temperatures from -22 to +158°F (-30 to +70°C), showing results on a 240 × 200 pixel backlit LCD screen. The hygrometer is IP67 rated and can present temperature in degrees Fahrenheit (°F), Centigrade (°C), or Kelvin (°K). It has an easy-to-follow graphical user interface (GUI) and contains enough memory to store over 100,000 moisture data points. It is well suited for detecting moisture in natural gas, chemical/petrochemical gases, and industrial gases as part of maintaining a manufacturing facility. 

The Lighthouse ApexZ50 Portable Cleanroom Particle Counter also provides reliable particle detection, tracking particles as small as 0.5 μm and as large as 10.0 μm at densities as great as 300,000 particles/ft.3 The compact instrument shows test results on a 7.0-in. (8.89-cm) color touch-screen display and is powered by swappable, rechargeable batteries. With a built-in printer and carry handle to boost portability and facilitate on-site testing, the particle counter operates at flow rates as great as 100 LPM (3.5 CFM). It communicates digitally via Ethernet, W-Fi, and standard USB interconnections and incorporates speakers to provide audio warnings when particle counts are excessive. Its software includes built-in cleanroom certification reports and allows users to customize reports according to their requirements. The portable particle counter features self-diagnostic capabilities and status-indicating light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to keep users up to date. 

The Viasensor G100-10N Portable Carbon-Dioxide (CO2) Incubator Analyzer is an invaluable tool for pharmaceutical and medical facilities needing to check on CO2 produced within incubators. Designed with a custom dual-wavelength infrared (IR) sensor, it operates at a typical pump rate of 100 cm3/minute to determine gas percentages quickly but accurately. It can measure CO2 content from 0 to 20% and O2 from 0 to 100% of volume, both with accuracy of ±1% following calibration. It achieves such high accuracy via several beneficial integrated functions, including built-in gas moisture removal. The portable CO2 incubator analyzer works at 0 to 95% relative humidity (RH) levels and provides dual temperature probes to monitor operating temperatures from +32 to +122°F (0 to +50°C). The analyzer runs about 10 hours on rechargeable Li-ion batteries and has visual and audible alarms to alert users of excessive CO2 and O2 levels. 

Although it is compact and handheld, the RKI Instruments GX-6000 Gas Monitor can monitor as many as six gases simultaneous, including CO, O2, and combustible gases. It features four channels for measuring gases within confined spaces and two smart channels for connection of additional sensors such as IR, photoionization-detector (PID), and super toxic sensors. The GX-6000 is loaded with functionality including a strong sample pump, a rotating LCD screen, a panic alarm, and an LED flashlight. It can operate with just one channel for single-gas measurements or with all six channels. It includes a PID sensor supported by a library of more than 600 VOC gases for detection and is contained in a rugged instrument housing that can handle the harshest environments. 

The Vaisala HUMICAP® HM70 Hand-Held Humidity and Temperature Meter provides accurate measurements when quick spot checks are needed. With an attached probe, it measures temperature over the broad range of -94 to +356°F (-70 to +180°C), RH, and various other parameters including dewpoint/frost-point temperature, absolute humidity, and water-vapor pressure. It can capture data for real-time analysis on its own or recruit a PC running with the appropriate Windows® software and a USB connection for scrutiny of humidity and temperature measurements. As with the other portable environmental testers, it is powered by rechargeable batteries. Additional information on these and other environmental testers can be found on the Transcat website (www.transcat.com) or by contacting a sales advisor at 800-264-4059.