Dry Products Manufacture, New Production Facility

Industry

Pharmaceutical

Business Issue

The client was faced with projected demand for a new anti-depressant drug that could not be met without greatly expanding their manufacturing capacity.  This fast-track project constituted a major part of the effort to meet this need by constructing a new production facility in a new building at an existing site.

Project Summary

The project involved the use of GEA-Niro supplied Fluid Bed Dryer Suite together with various utility systems that supported the manufacturing operation.  The facility incorporates a fluid bed processor with separate process inserts for coating and drying; spraying systems; product handling systems; wash-in-place (WIP) / clean-in-place (CIP); and integrated process control automation systems.  Cornerstone Controls project group coordinated their efforts with the client, the primary site contractor, GEA-Niro installation and startup personnel, validation personnel, and the data archiving contractor.

Scope Responsibility

Cornerstone Controls was responsible for the following areas:

  • Project management of the fast track project.
  • Automation engineering design and development of Rockwell ControlLogix PLC and Rockwell RSView HMI systems for:
    • The Purified Water Distribution System; and
    • The Waste Neutralization System
    • The Water for Operations System (WFO)
  • Design, assembly and testing of PLC and remote control panels.
  • Design of the overall communication architecture for the facility.
  • Design and layout of ControlNet, DeviceNet, and Remote I/O data communication networks.
  • Integration of the controls for the purified water and waste systems into the overall control architecture of the plant, including configuring the security protocol for the GEA-Niro production system.
  • Configuration of the historian database for the purified water distribution system.
  • Factory Acceptance Testing

Results

Project was delivered on time and within budget.  The customer contracted Cornerstone to deliver the automation and historian on two other units.