Cleanroom explosion-protected operating and visualisation systems from R. Stahl

04 September 2012

R. Stahl is offering a variety of operating and monitoring systems for installation in cleanrooms in the pharmaceutical sector, as well as in other industries. Solutions covering various performance classes range from simple operating equipment for machine control up to Remote HMIs and Thin Clients with large displays, which support process control with complex plant visualisation requirements. All models can be installed in cleanroom environments without any special provisions.

The products have no detrimental effect on the cleanroom classifications under relevant regulations, e.g. standardised procedures according to VDI directive 2038, the EU's GMP directive, ISO 14644-1, or other market-specific and industry-specific standards. These systems are all available either in standard industrial design or as versions suitable for hazardous areas (zones 2/22 or 1/21).

Sealed pharmaceutical and cleanroom HMIs with ingress protection up to IP66 can be supplied both as stand-alone solutions or as complete wall-panel mountable elements. Wall-panel versions are recommended for installation in cleanrooms of the highest category, so that the operating systems will not affect air circulation and no particles will settle on them.

All enclosures are made of conductive materials, making static charges impossible. The devices are designed with smooth lines and without any dead spaces or dirt traps, making cleaning easy. The HMIs are available with surfaces of stainless steel or of a dirt-repellent polyester membrane for display and keyboard. Both these materials can withstand powerful jets of water as well as most solvents or cleaning agents. The stainless-steel surface is polished to a very low surface roughness of 0.8 µm (N6). Alternative options are anodised front frames and electropolished enclosures.

R. Stahl’s comprehensive HMI portfolio means cleanroom operators can easily select a product that suits a specific application. For example, compact ET-3x6 / MT-3x6 devices are designed for simple operating and monitoring tasks and are particularly suitable for direct integration into equipment. They communicate directly with PLC systems and, if required, can be integrated in industrial Ethernet environments. Their proprietary operating system and integrated visualisation system greatly simplify project engineering and reduce runtime licensing costs.

For complex process visualisation realised by means of KVM or Thin Client technology, R. Stahl provides larger systems with displays ranging from 15" to 24". Featuring screen resolutions from 1024x768 to 1920x1200 pixels, this line-up includes 4:3 as well as widescreen aspect ratio HMIs. WLAN versions of these powerful systems are also available for users seeking to minimise the number of cable entries.