In pharmaceutical cleanrooms, providing power to a computer, display, panel PC, thin client, or Human-Machine Interface (HMI) workstation can involve considerably more than simply finding the nearest electrical outlet.
Every new AC connection may require conduit, wiring, wall penetrations, specialized installation and sealing, and other electrical infrastructure inside a highly controlled environment. Depending on the extent of the work and the facility’s change-control requirements, the modification may also trigger cleanroom requalification or other validation activities, adding more time before the production area can return to service.
The implications for pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities involve cost, time, and flexibility.
This is true when a cleanroom is initially designed and computing equipment is installed. However, it can become even more significant later when another workstation is added, equipment is relocated, a production line is expanded or repurposed, or an existing manufacturing facility changes hands.
“When you need to lay out or re-lay out the production line, the first and most critical pain point is the power,” says Paul Shu of ARISTA Corporation, a provider of industrial computing and display systems for pharmaceutical manufacturing environments.
This is one reason pharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly looking at high-power Power over Ethernet (PoE) to simplify how computing equipment is powered throughout cleanrooms and other controlled production areas.
With PoE, electrical power is provided through the network switch and travels through the same standard Ethernet cable that carries the data. With the newest IEEE 802.3bt Type 3/4 standards providing up to 100 watts at the source, there is now sufficient power available for many of the larger computing devices used in pharmaceutical manufacturing, including panel PCs, flat screens, touch displays, thin clients, and full workstations.
By eliminating the need to provide a separate high-voltage AC connection at every endpoint, pharmaceutical manufacturers can reduce electrical infrastructure inside the cleanroom. In addition, backup power can potentially be centralized outside the sterile environment, and power to individual devices can be monitored and controlled remotely.
Once power is being delivered by the network switch, it becomes possible to manage that power through the network. Switch functionality can also include features such as power priority assignment and “Persistent PoE on Reboot,” which is intended to maintain power to connected endpoints even when the switch itself is undergoing certain reboots or software updates.
To take advantage of PoE, the computing equipment at the endpoint must also be PoE-enabled. ARISTA offers PoE-enabled computing systems for pharmaceutical cleanroom applications.
For more information, contact ARISTA Corporation at (510) 226-1800; e-mail sales@goarista.com; visit https://aristaipc.com/; or write to 48460 Lakeview Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94538.