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Airlock helps to protect classified area that may occur during the men and material movement. “Air lock system” in pharmaceutical manufacturing to avid the chance of cross contamination and to separate different process area.
Airlocks are closed room having two or more doors between two different controlled areas having different cleanliness level as class A and Class B, Class C and Class D areas. These airlocks prevent direct air flow between these areas during the entry of material or personnel.
Airlocks are called PAL (Personnel Air Lock) when used for personnel and MAL (Material Air Lock) when used for transferring the material.
In generally, there are three basic airlock design that can be combined or used individually to protect the clean room and/or prevent cross contamination between two adjacent areas of different process operations served by two different HVAC system. These three airlocks are:
– Cascade Airlock
– Bubble Airlock
– Sink Airlock
1. Cascade Airlock:
These airlock are very common having higher pressure on one side and lower pressure on another side. In this system positive air pressure flows from the higher pressure internal zone to be airlock and from the airlock to the lesser lower pressure grade area. This prevents to entry dust and contamination from outside to airlock and from airlock to inner side.
Application: Any manufacturing facilities where the product requires protection from particulate but the people outside the clean-room do not need protection from the product in the clean room.
2. Bubble Airlock:
These types of airlock having higher pressure inside the airlock and lower pressure both outside. It creates a barrier where contaminants within either area pushed back into their own respective areas.
Application: Used in, areas where the product needs protection and the people external to the cleanrooms require protection from the product, to reduce the possibility of viable articulate from entering the lesser pressure clean-room. Area such as higher potency, compounding areas terminal sterilization is not an option.
3. Sink Airlock:
Airlocks having lower pressure inside the airlock and higher pressure on both sides of the airlock. This airlock pulls air from both adjacent areas creating a low pressure barrier and reduces the opportunity of contaminations passing to the internal zone.
Application: In many research facilities, substance that are experimented on are highly dangerous, and it is essential to keep them from being exposed. During a few type of production process in a clean-room, air from a contaminated area has to be contained one place.
A proper URS and subject matter expertise is the need of the hour to design, qualify and operate such clean room facilities with good airlocks, In one way we would call Air Locks are ventricles of heart. If they fail the whole system collapses.
