Epoxy for Cleanrooms, Pharma and Food Plants

Cleanrooms, pharmaceutical plants and food plants have one thing in common: the floor must not only be durable but must also support hygiene control. Dust trapped in joints, water pooling in hidden corners or a peeling coating can all become sources of contamination, even when the production process above has been tightly controlled. Epoxy flooring in these three environments is therefore chosen first for its seamless nature and cleanability, and only then for mechanical durability.

This article presents the epoxy flooring requirements for cleanrooms, pharmaceuticals and food based on the general properties of the material, referring to the standard frameworks TCVN 9014:2011 and TCVN 12574-2018. The specific parameters of each Kadier system are not published in this article; when official technical data sheets (TDS) become available, the content will be updated accordingly.

Why does a seamless floor matter?

Epoxy flooring creates a seamless membrane over the concrete substrate, with no joints as in a tiled floor. This feature brings three direct benefits for clean environments: it limits places where dust and microorganisms can lodge, it prevents water and cleaning solutions from soaking down into the substrate, and it makes washing and disinfection faster and more thorough.

To make the most of this benefit, the wall-base detail also needs to be treated consistently. A curved, seamless wall base (coving) continuous with the floor surface removes the right-angled corners that are hard to clean, where dust and water often accumulate. Conversely, a seamless floor whose wall bases still have sharp corners and gaps will be much less effective for hygiene control.

Cleanrooms: dust and static control

In a cleanroom, floor requirements go beyond visible cleanliness to the ability to limit the generation and retention of dust particles. A smooth, seamless, easy-to-clean floor surface is a basic requirement. Depending on the cleanliness class and type of production, a cleanroom may also require static control, because static charge can attract dust and damage sensitive components.

For electronics cleanrooms, an anti-static coating system such as StatGuard is a group of solutions to be considered, together with the plant’s earthing system and overall static-control procedures. The floor coating alone does not by itself form a complete anti-static system; effectiveness depends on the design of the whole system and on periodic testing after the floor is put into use.

Pharmaceutical plants: cleaning, resistance to cleaning chemicals and zoning

Pharmaceutical plants regularly use cleaning chemicals and disinfectant solutions. The floor coating therefore needs to resist the cleaning chemicals the plant uses every day, without being quickly corroded or discoloured after many cleaning cycles. The type of chemical, its concentration and the actual cleaning frequency should be given to the consultant before a coating system is chosen, because no single coating resists every chemical at every concentration.

Colour zoning is also an important management tool in a pharmaceutical plant: different floor colours between production areas, packing areas, walkways and controlled areas help staff recognise hygiene boundaries and avoid mixing up movement flows. One distinction must be made clearly: epoxy flooring supports a plant in meeting hygiene requirements within a quality management system such as GMP, but the floor coating itself is not GMP certification. Certification belongs to the plant’s entire management and operating system.

Food plants: water, grease and daily cleaning

Food plants face the added challenges of wash water, grease and spilled food. The floor needs to drain well thanks to a suitable fall towards collection channels, a surface rough enough to be anti-slip when wet but still easy to scrub, and a coating resistant to grease and the cleaning solutions used in the food industry.

For processing areas in operation or areas requiring a light installation odour, a low-VOC water-based system such as AquaBase is an option worth considering. For production areas requiring a flat, seamless and highly aesthetic floor, a self-leveling system such as LevelFlow is more suitable thanks to its self-flowing surface that gives good flatness. As with pharmaceuticals, epoxy flooring supports a food plant in meeting hygiene requirements within a system such as HACCP, but it does not by itself constitute HACCP certification for the plant.

Points to settle before installation

• Type of cleaning chemicals and cleaning frequency: these determine the chemical-resistance requirement of the coating.
• Substrate moisture and drainage system: high substrate moisture or poor drainage can both cause the coating to peel, especially in areas that are regularly wet.
• Wall-base and channel details: curved wall bases, and joints with channels and doorways treated before the topcoat is applied.
• Maintenance plan: daily cleaning procedures, surface inspection cycles, and a local repair plan when the coating is scratched or its edges peel.
• Acceptance criteria: surface, thickness, adhesion and trial cleanability checks on a sample area before the whole floor is handed over, against the criteria table agreed before installation.

The three environments of cleanrooms, pharmaceuticals and food do not require three completely different types of floor, but the same foundation — seamless, easy to clean, and resistant to cleaning chemicals — plus each industry’s own requirement: static control for electronics cleanrooms, strict hygiene zoning for pharmaceuticals, and anti-slip when wet for food. Identifying that specific requirement correctly from the start is how to avoid having to repair the floor after the plant has gone into operation.

Get advice on choosing the coating system suited to your plant’s cleanliness class, cleaning chemicals and actual operating conditions.

Illustration: Pexels — Yuri Shkoda. Image source: pexels.com.