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 mains socket. Arista discusses.
Arista
Every new AC connection may require conduit, wiring, wall penetrations, specialised 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 UK 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,” said Paul Shu of ARISTA Corporation, a provider of industrial computing and display systems for pharmaceutical manufacturing environments.
This is one reason UK 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 mains AC connection at every endpoint, pharmaceutical manufacturers can reduce electrical infrastructure inside the cleanroom. In addition, backup power can potentially be centralised outside the sterile environment, and power to individual devices can be monitored and controlled remotely.
PoE also reduces the amount of electrical work that has to occur inside the cleanroom in the first place and provides considerably more flexibility when the production environment changes later.
For a facility where cleanroom space is costly and adding electrical infrastructure requires additional installation, sealing, cleaning, and potentially requalification or validation considerations, this can be a very practical advantage.
More flexibility from the beginning
The limitation of fixed mains sockets is exactly that: they are fixed. When a cleanroom is originally constructed, mains sockets are installed based on where equipment is expected to be located at that time. But pharmaceutical production areas do not necessarily remain configured the same way throughout the life of the facility.
Production lines change. Equipment is relocated. Pilot operations become larger production runs. A new process may require another HMI, workstation, or KPI display in a location not anticipated when the cleanroom was originally constructed.
Then someone discovers there is no power there.
With PoE, the location of the mains socket becomes much less important. If the device is within the allowable Ethernet distance and its power requirement is within the PoE specification, another cable can provide both power and network connectivity.
This gives manufacturers more latitude in how workstations and displays are positioned when the cleanroom is first laid out. However, it also builds flexibility into the facility for what may happen later.
According to Shu, repurposing production lines is one of the major reasons pharmaceutical manufacturers need to rearrange HMI workstations from one location to another. He says ARISTA customers have specifically reported considerable time and cost savings when production areas had to be reconfigured, including one pharmaceutical manufacturing site where new ownership wanted to change the production line as quickly as possible.
In these situations, PoE can provide more flexibility to reposition HMI workstations without also having to relocate AC power throughout the production area.
Still, the value is not limited to a future reconfiguration. Designing the cleanroom with less dependence on fixed mains sockets from the outset can make it easier to position computing equipment where operators actually need it and then retain that flexibility over the life of the production area.
Centralising power outside the cleanroom
For UK pharmaceutical manufacturers, moving batteries, UPS systems, and some of the related power equipment out of controlled environments can be just as valuable as reducing the amount of wiring going into them.
For example, consider where the backup power is located. Most facilities require some level of power protection for critical computing equipment. Normally this might mean installing an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with each workstation. Inside a cleanroom, however, that is not necessarily desirable.
UPS units introduce additional hardware, batteries, surfaces, and in some cases materials that have to be considered as part of the cleanroom environment. Cleanrooms are designed around controlling contamination, including particles generated by equipment and materials, as well as maintaining surfaces that can be effectively cleaned.
For this reason, equipment that does not need to be located inside the controlled environment is often better located outside it when practical.
With PoE, the endpoint does not need its own local source of backup power because the power originates at the network switch. This allows the UPS to be located centrally in the server or network room, outside the cleanroom, and backup power can then support multiple PoE endpoints through the network.
“You don’t have to do UPS at each workstation,” said Shu. “You just back up the PoE switch.”
This can simplify the backup power configuration while also reducing the amount of equipment that needs to be installed, maintained, and cleaned inside the production area.
Power becomes manageable through the network
Once power is being delivered by the network switch, it also becomes possible to manage that power through the network.
According to Shu, some smart PoE switches allow each port to be turned on and off individually. This means power to one device can be controlled without turning off every endpoint connected to the switch.
Certain PoE switches also provide power management capabilities that can limit how much power each connected device is allowed to draw. This provides better control over the distribution of the available power across the switch.
Administrators can monitor power consumption, establish thresholds, and in some cases control individual PoE ports remotely. If a terminal stops responding, for example, the port potentially can be power-cycled without physically entering the cleanroom.
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.
For a production environment where operators rely on displays, HMIs, electronic batch information, and other real-time process data, avoiding unnecessary interruptions matters. These systems may be providing operators with the information required to monitor equipment, make adjustments, document production, or keep a process moving.
Pharmaceutical batches can also be highly valuable, so even relatively short periods of downtime can become expensive when they interrupt production or prevent operators from accessing critical information.
PoE-enabled computing options
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, including panel PCs, thin clients, displays, and workstations in wall, pedestal, VESA, benchtop, ceiling, pendant-arm, and recessed configurations, depending on the application.
The existing network does not necessarily have to be converted all at once either. If the network switch does not support PoE, or the switch provides an earlier PoE standard without sufficient wattage, a PoE injector can be installed to combine power and data onto the Ethernet cable.
PoE capability, however, is only one consideration when selecting computing equipment for a pharmaceutical cleanroom. ARISTA also designs workstations specifically for these controlled environments, including systems with sealed or cleanroom-compatible enclosures as well as 316L stainless steel construction that provides protection against cleaning agents, solvents, and other corrosive substances commonly used in pharmaceutical facilities.
A simpler approach to cleanroom power
High-power PoE does not eliminate the need for conventional electrical infrastructure in pharmaceutical cleanrooms. But where computing equipment can operate over PoE, it provides another way to deliver power without extending mains power to every endpoint.
For UK pharmaceutical facilities, that can mean a simpler installation today and more flexibility tomorrow. Sometimes the simplest electrical installation is the one that does not have to be installed at all.