Page 41 - trends in automation 1.2013

Precise filling of the reactors: The pneumatic actuators DAPS overcome the high breakaway
torques of the process valves with an adapted torque curve.
says Seliger. The impressive actuators in
the DAPS series are based on the Scotch
yoke principle and characterised by
simple mechanics and thus low wear and
a long service life.
More automated ball valves are installed
on the CIP stations, which are used to
clean the multi-purpose facility after
each batch has been produced. Butterfly
valves with PTFE liner and the actuators
DAPS control the three exhaust paths
with acidic, alkaline and solvent-laden
exhaust air as well as the heating and
cooling of the reactors.
with valve terminals CPX/MPA and right
up to the fieldbus interface, everything
comes from a single source and is con-
sistently harmonised.
Greater reliability with pneumatics
Stainless steel ball valves from the series
VZSB as well as ball valves lined with
PTFE are used to fill the reactors. They are
equipped with quarter turn actuators
DAPS and repeaters. These single-acting
drives with integrated spring return re-
main closed in the event of a malfunction.
“Pneumatic actuators are therefore more
reliable than their electric equivalents,”
Heraeus has been producing
the chemotherapy drug Cisplatin
since 1982. Before this, cyto­-
static drugs could only be obtained
from the United States and were not widely
used in cancer treatment in Germany.
Today, Heraeus is the world’s largest pro-
ducer of platinum-based anti-tumour
agents. The great demand for cytostatic
drugs and the development of other
drugs such as Carboplatin called for the
construction of an automated multi-
purpose production plant in 2009. Apart
from ensuring much greater production
output, automation also simplifies docu-
mentation of the production process.
“Automation makes our work much easier,
both at the plant construction stage and
during operation,” explains Raimund
Seliger, Engineering Project Manager at
Heraeus.
Systematic approach
Automation makes the production
process in the four reactors, whose sizes
range from 200 to 1,000 litres, easy to
control and monitor. Functions such as
heating, cooling, inertisation or pressure
build-up are automated and simplify
the work of the system operators. Only the
actual dispensing process is excluded
from automation; the raw materials and
additives are still weighed and mixed
manually in batches.
“The plant developed by planning firm
Chemgineering consistently reflects the
system concept,” adds Bernd Becker,
sales consultant for process automation
at Festo. From the process valves and
sensor boxes, through the ready-to-in-
stall control cabinets for ATEX zone 2
“As users we benefit from
having just one contact
for most of the automation
technology.”
Raimund Seliger, Engineering Project Manager at Heraeus
1.2013 trends in automation
Synergies 40 – 41