Special requirements are cleanliness tests of small and micro components in low test lot sizes or components with cleanliness requirements that do not allow particles > 100 µm. For these cleanliness tests, the lowest possible blank value must be ensured in order not to influence the result by particle contamination from other components. For this purpose, a significantly increased effort must be made compared to the standard cleanliness test, in that the test environment must at least correspond to clean room class 4 according to EN ISO 14644 and very clean and easy to clean extraction equipment as well as very pure extraction media must be used.

CleanControlling offers the established test procedure CCPlus for this purpose, with which blank value specifications < 30 µm can be reliably achieved. The particle extraction takes place in a special, separated clean room area of class 6 (according to DIN ISO 14644-1) and under additional laminar flow conditions (class 4 according to DIN ISO 14644-1). In addition, extraction vessels made of glass are preferably used, which are much better suited to achieve the lowest possible blank value than, for example, stainless steel.

Extraction media prepared with highly efficient, manually selected filters are also essential success factors for cleanliness testing in this area of requirements. In addition to cleanliness testing of micro parts, medical products are also in the focus of this special test procedure of CleanControlling. This is especially important because often only a small number of test specimens are available for this testing.