Old Pharmaceutical Reactor Brought Back to Life with New Control System

A bioprocess control system update helped a leading manufacturer of USDA-licensed biologicals improve batch consistency. The pharmaceutical manufacturer had an 800 liter, 30+ year-old stainless steel, steam-in-place (SIP) reactor that was mechanically sound but in desperate need of a new controller. They needed to replace the production capability and required flexible controls for the varying products their customers produced. Of foremost concern was the cost to replace the idle system. ILS Automation came to their rescue.

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Alliance Technical Sales
630-321-9646
https://alliancets.com

Know About ILS Automation

Bringing ideas to fruition can sometimes require knowledge, skills, or a manpower commitment that is not readily available in an organization. There can be times when leveraging internal resources with outside expertise and assistance is the smart move, empowering your organization to attain its goals faster.

For bioprocess control and automation, ILS Automation can be that outsourced expertise and effort that gets the project done. The company combines bioprocess expertise, control software, and hardware into a turnkey package.

Cell Culture, Fermentation, Biofuel - Technology and engineering for accurate control of animal, insect, and plant cell cultivation. Systems from lab to pilot scale. Custom and semi-custom systems, fully integrated to meet process requirements to test optimize and translate lab and pilot scale activities into full scale production.

Bioreactors and control systems, including process control and analytical software, combine with full scale integrator services at ILS Automation. Find out more about how they can support and improve your bioprocess development by contacting a product and service specialist. Leveraging your own process knowledge and experience with their expertise will lead to an effective solution.

Complete Bioreactor Package for Streamlining Bioprocess Applications

Complete Bioreactor Systems 2 to 20 Liters
Courtesy ILS Automation

Planning, purchasing, and configuring a bioreactor and an associated control system can be a time consuming project that taxes the limits of your technical knowledge. Coordinating the connectivity of all the components and getting everything to work in harmony takes time away from devotion to the mission goals of your project or organization.

ILS Automation, experts at bioreactor process control, now offer fully packaged and integrated complete bioreactor systems that allow customers to get up and running with a minimized time commitment. The new packaged systems include reactor vessels from 2L to 20L and combine useful design principles into every unit.

• Non-proprietary components that are readily available.
• Design empowers customer, or a third party, to perform service.
• Software and interfaces match customer requirements.
• Complete documentation and source code provided.
• Ongoing support and technology upgrades made available

More detail is provided in the datasheet included below. Share your bioprocessing and analytical requirements and challenges with application experts. Combine your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Complete Bioreactor Package for Streamlining Bioprocess Applications from Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.

Software For Bioreactors and Batch Processing Pulls Everything Together in One Place

Bioreactors and other batch operations can require the integration and coordinated operation of multiple control loops, data collection and processing, and the equipment and instruments sourced from differing manufacturers. Operations such as these can benefit greatly from productivity improvement afforded by expert level software that automates and coordinates the tasks involved in batch processing.

ILS Automation, a leader and specialist in software and hardware targeted at the automation of batch processing, provides their Batch Expert+ software which allows operators to maximize productivity throughout the entire process. The company takes an open non-proprietary approach to providing solutions for complex batch processing. In the company's own words (from the ILS website) Batch Expert+ software offers:

• Adaptable: Customers can customize a system to meet their needs both now and in the future. Software features are often added to meet the ever-changing needs of process development or the introduction and integration of new measurement technology. 
• IoT Approach: We apply the notion of the Internet of Things (IoT) to laboratory automation. Our controllers integrate smart control elements and instruments in smart ways. Often this implies a digital interface to read and write actual numbers instead of an analog 4-20 mA approximation. Richer and more accurate/precise data is presented for data analysis and automation. Be it gas flow controllers (Alicat and Brooks), digital probes (Mettler ISM, Hamilton Visiferm), scales (Mettler, Sartorius, OHAUS, etc.), cell density (Hamilton Incyte, ABER, Fogale), the IoT approach provides smarter solutions.
• Open: ILS first-and-foremost provides solutions — not just a piece of equipment that is unpacked from a box. To achieve this goal, we don’t hide behind proprietary equipment or software that is rigid and would conform to our thoughts of what our customers need. Our platforms grow and scale to adapt to customer needs through an open software and hardware system based on industrial grade, off-the-shelf components.
• Remote Support: ILS often supports our customers through a remote VPN connection (LogMeIn, Citrix Receiver, etc.). Our customers claim that we have an obsession with bioreactor control and performance tuning. Combining our AFC controller with our BE+ platform, the slightest DO oscillation or anomaly spurs our interest. Through this interaction and customer feedback, we continually learn and improve our products and solutions. Also, we are often not on-site when questions and issues arise just before a 5:00 pm Friday inoculation, so any automation to help the end users is greatly appreciated.

There is more to learn about Batch Expert+ and how it can be incorporated into your own operations. Share your processing challenges with a product specialist, combining your process knowledge with their product application expertise to develop an effective solution.

Batch Expert+ Boosts Lab Productivity from Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.

Software Boosts Productivity for Batch and Lab Operations

Batch operations can benefit from SCADA

In the biotechnology sphere, repetitive batch operations are good candidates for the use of software to create a SCADA system providing not only control and data acquisition, but to serving as a database of recipes and production data from previous batches that can be compared and analyzed. Productivity can be enhanced by centralizing many functions, making them available to all connected operations.

ILS Automation has developed a software package, Batch Expert+, tailored for use with bioreactors. It also has capability to interface simultaneously with other lab instruments and equipment, providing a single location for all related data. The system is intended to boost productivity by centralizing the data acquisition and control operations, providing tools for trend analysis and other analytical functions.

The company lists some of the main features.

• One application manages multiple brands/models of fermentors/bioreactors
• Integrates multiple on-line and off-line field and lab instruments (mass-spec, cell density, external pumps, scales, gas flow controllers, etc.)
• Common recipes
• Recipe management
• Remote monitoring and control
• Intelligent alarming and alarm management
• Data historian for process and assay data
• Reporting and scheduling
• Open SQL database is easily integrated with other business systems and applications, making Batch Expert+ architecture extensible and customizable
• Freedom to experiment with new logic
• Batch trend charting of live, historical, and assay data
• Time or event-based control
• 21 CFR Part 11 compliant

There is much more to be learned about how Batch Expert+ can improve performance. Share your batch operation challenges with a product specialist. Combining your process experience and knowledge with their product application expertise will produce the best solutions.

ILS Automation Batch Expert+ Software from Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.

Video on Bubble Noise in Dissolved Oxygen Signals

Modern Brewery

Process engineers and operators continually seek faster and more accurate means of measuring variables within the process. Greater currency and accuracy of information can lead to better control and decision making, with a positive impact on efficiency and safety.

Measurement of specific dissolved gases within a liquid plays an important part in many processes in the biopharmaceutical, food, and beverage industries. Mettler Toledo, through their Ingold brand, has developed a solution to a common problem associated with measuring dissolved oxygen. Provided below is a video which illustrates how bubbles can impact the sensor reading, plus Mettler Toledo's solution to the problem. There is also an application note provided below the video which further explains the problem and solution.

Share your process measurement and control challenges with product specialists. Combine your process experience with their product application expertise to devise the best solutions.

Eliminating Bubble Noise in Dissolved Oxygen Measurements from Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.

Pharmaceutical Industry Case Study: Extend Bioreactor Useful Life With Automation Refurbishing

Fermenter/Bioreactor Control System
Courtesy ILS Automation

Bioreactors can have their useful working life extended, even made more productive, through the replacement of the automation and control system. Modern measurement and control gear can provide utility that may not have been available at the time of original manufacture. With vessel, support structure, and piping in good condition, a system may be a viable candidate for refurbishing to bring about upgraded performance or avoid the purchase of an entire new system. ILS Automation is a specialist in the realm of refurbishing bioreactor systems.

The company has several drop-in replacement control units for smaller bioreactors, and also provides turn-key solutions for larger systems. The ILS expertise also extends into other industrial process control and automation fields in the biotechnology, chemical, oil and gas industries.

A bioreactor control system update case study is included below. More product, service, and capabilities information is available from Alliance Technical Sales.

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Case Study: Refurbish Old Bioreactor from Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.