QSI Corp recently was chosen to provide the graphic human-machine interface on an advanced microprocessor-driven refrigeration controller at an American Red Cross blood bank. The technology was implemented to improve temperature and compressor control for the blood and plasma storage rooms.
The new state-of-the-art facility in Pomona, CA, is the largest blood bank in the United States. After only a year of operation, however, the Red Cross realized its existing control system was inadequate to control the temperature of the blood and plasma storage rooms. Strict quality standards require little or no temperature fluctuation of the stored blood and plasma, worth millions of dollars, at a holding temperature of -32°C.
The project involved installation of Pro Refrigeration, Inc's CR110 Controllers onto existing Red Cross condensing units, with QSI Corp's Qterm-G70 touchscreen operator interface mounted outside the storage room. The Qterm-G70 operator interface was easily customized for this application. The results included much better storage room temperature control, more effective defrost cycles, improved datalogging ability, and overall improved system control.
An Ethernet-enabled graphic human-machine terminal, Qterm-G70 uses a touchscreen to interface with the user. Industrial-grade hardware features and options include a 320 x 240 lighted graphic LCD display (color or grayscale); 100Base-T Ethernet with TCP/IP support; touchscreen with optional PS/2 keyboard connection; and an EIA-232, -422, or -485 serial interface. NEMA-4 rated and CE certified, the rugged Qterm-G70 can be used in harsh industrial environments.
The Qterm-G70 uses Qlarity™ (pronounced Clarity), an object-based graphic terminal programming language that simplifies designing either a simple control panel interface or a complete standalone application. Users have the flexibility of using predefined objects, editing existing objects, or authoring objects. Qlarity Foundry™, a PC-based design tool, provides a Windows® environment for screen creation, application simulation, debugging, and downloading to the Qterm-G70 terminal.
"We are pleased to have worked with Pro Refrigeration on such an important project for the American Red Cross," said Jim Elwell, president of QSI. "It is rewarding to know QSI's products are a part of a solution to properly store precious blood and plasma used in hospitals to save lives."
"With the Qterm-G70 and the CR110, we were able to successfully eliminate many components of the existing system, while delivering a completely redundant control system," said John Butorac, controls specialist for Pro Refrigeration, Inc.
