Temperature monitoring of cooling/freezing devices

The protection of temperature-sensitive products and goods in refrigerators/freezers is extremely important to prevent financial damage to the cleanroom operator.

Often, temperature-sensitive products or goods with significant economic value are stored in cleanroom and laboratory operations. These are located in appropriate cooling or freezing devices (refrigerators/freezers, chest freezers, cold rooms, etc.). A device failure could lead to substantial financial loss if the goods become unusable. To best protect these products, a monitoring system is necessary that alerts the cleanroom operator in a timely and reliable manner.

Monitoring systems in the GxP environment are tasked with monitoring all relevant environmental and process parameters, storing and documenting them, and issuing alarms when limit violations occur.

The advantages of a comprehensive cleanroom monitoring system lie in the fact that all areas (e.g., cleanrooms, airlocks, storage areas, cold rooms, technical areas, HVAC, etc.) and parameters (e.g., differential pressure, temperature, humidity, particles, etc.) of a GMP production operation are recorded and documented.

Temperature monitoring, for example, of a refrigerator, may seem quite trivial at first glance. However, when you examine the topic more closely, you encounter several important details that must definitely be considered and clarified in advance.

– Where exactly do the sensors need to be installed?
– Is it sufficient to monitor the ambient air, or must the product temperature also be monitored?
– How do I set up my alarm concept?

The monitoring of a refrigerator in a cleanroom or laboratory operation is much more comprehensive than often assumed. The seemingly "simple" task of temperature monitoring (refrigerator monitoring) in a cooling/freezing device requires careful planning in advance. In addition to a sophisticated alarm concept, it is especially important to carefully check whether monitoring the ambient air is sufficient or if you want to monitor the actual product temperature.