Overview

Bespak is a leading manufacturer of medical drug delivery devices, including inhalation devices, injectable devices, valves, actuators, and many other medical components. Some of the most widely used medical devices are designed and manufactured at their facilities in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.

Having expanded their premises, Bespak needed a ventilation solution suitable for the stringent requirements of their cleanrooms.

Prihoda’s fabric ducts met all of these requirements, as the company has decades of experience in designing fabric diffusers for cleanrooms and medical and pharmaceutical applications.

Challenge

The new facility needed to meet ISO class 7 requirements for 50 weeks of the year, whilst keeping tight temperature controls to support manufacturing operations. Working with JD Cooling, Prihoda set out to create a fabric diffuser system for Bespak’s premises.

As the largest cleanroom location in Europe, the facility presented a substantial area to cover with the fabric diffusers. A total of 18,000m³ of air was contained by the space, which needed a minimum of 60m³/s, to be supplied by JD Cooling’s bespoke air handling units.

Prihoda's approach

Because of the low ceilings and sensitive equipment that the facility would contain, Prihoda designed the ducts to diffuse the air through microperforations. These provide extremely gentle airflow and are very suited to makeup air applications, or any application where the air is filtered and must be supplied in the gentlest possible way. The diffusers were also made in a segment shape, that is, a wider but shorter D-shape, and were attached directly to the ceiling, creating a slimmer profile in keeping with the dimensions of the room. The ducts were made in premium antibacterial material.

Like all Prihoda fabric ducts, and especially important in this project, the fabric diffusers were cleanroom compatible and certified to comply to ISO 14644-1 to class ISO 4.

Outcome

Prihoda’s bespoke fabric diffusers will ensure that the Bespak facility will experience virtually no particle shedding from the ducting material, and any microorganisms will be killed on contact.

Additionally, by attaching it flush to the ceiling using aluminium profiles, the are no horizontal surfaces or overhangs that could collect dirt and debris, meeting the hygiene requirements of cGMP for this facility.

The use of microperforations ensures that there are no drafts that can trip up any sensitive equipment, whilst delivering the required air changes for their operations, all with a 10-year warranty on the duct material.