Tempcontrolled food shipping

Yokogawa Electric Corporation has developed a range of monitoring solutions for use on temperature-controlled container ships used for cold-treated food transportation. Based on Yokogawa’s data acquisition hardware integrated with customised software, these systems have received the all-important USDA certification, which is mandatory for all such food imported by ship into the USA.

The USDA Intransit Cold Treatment regulation stipulates that a USDA-approved recording system has to be on board every cooling vessel importing goods such as bananas and citrus fruits into the US. Approval for the Yokogawa recording systems and their associated software solutions means that Yokogawa can offer a range of USDA-approved recording systems that will suit vessels of all sizes and levels of sophistication.

Key products used in the USDA approved systems include the DXAdvanced DAQSTATION range of data-acquisition and control stations and the MX100 PC-based data-acquisition system. These products complement earlier Yokogawa devices that have USDA approval, including the DR240 hybrid recorder and the µR20000 chart recorder.

The DXAdvanced DAQSTATION, with its high-visibility TFT screen, is ideal for environments where instant visual feedback and alerts are essential. Measured values are captured on both a high-capacity internal memory (80 to 200 Mbyte) and removable flash storage (up to 2 Gbyte). Combined with MW100 remote input units, the DAQstation can log more than 240 input signals. When configured with Yokogawa’s Advanced Report software tool, USDA-approved reports can be automatically generated at user-specified intervals.

The PC front-end MX100 system offers reliable multi-channel data acquisition for easy connection to a PC running MCPS logging and monitoring software. The live monitoring screens give a clear indication of trend curves and actual measurement values, while the customised report function and automated tasks periodically create USDA reports showing the temperature conditions of all cooling compartments during a journey.

"We now have a USDA-approved recording system suitable for every class of cooled vessel", says Marco Bischoff of Yokogawa Europe: "Automated data monitoring has an increasingly important role in food transport, and the US regulations are among the most stringent. We are delighted that our systems have this accreditation, and we will continue to work with shipping operators to ensure that their refrigerated vessels continue to deliver their goods both safely and accountably."