IMPLEMENTATION PROCEDURE OF AN ADVANCED SUPERVISORY AND CONTROL STRATEGY IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Abstract This paper describes the different steps followed in implementing a temperature controller and a supervisory controller in a Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to control a 60 and 160 l reactor in a pharmaceutical factory. These reactors are used to produce the initial quantities of drugs needed to perform clinical tests. The chemical reactions involved are often changed (several times a week). The different steps of the project will be presented: • design of a new heating–cooling system, • design of the predictive and Supervisory Control Algorithm (SCA), • connection of the SCA to the SCADA system, • experimental validation according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). 
This SCA has been in daily use as the standard control system for more than 2 years.
Supervisory Temperature Control of Batch Reactors: Application to an Industrial Plant
Abstract This paper presents thermal control of a batch reactor equipped with a multifluid heating / cooling system with an intermediate utility: pressurised water. The appropriate utility is chosen by comparing the thermal flux that has to be transferred to the reaction mixture with the heat transfer capacities of the available utilities. The thermal flux to be transferred is calculated by a predictive control algorithm. Two different algorithms were considered: GPC and a predictive control algorithm that is based on the gradient of the control variable and of its reference value. Experimental performance is shown on a 160 litres industrial batch reactor of the company « Sanofi-Synthelabo » where this thermal controller, implemented in the DCS « DeltaV», is now being used.
Microfiltration: Effect of retentate protein concentration on limiting flux and serum protein removal with 4-mm-channel ceramic microfiltration membranes.
The objective of our study was to determine if the limiting flux and serum protein (SP) removal were different at 8, 9, or 10% true protein (TP) in the microfiltration (MF) retentate recirculation loop using 0.1-µm ceramic graded permeability membranes with 4-mm-channel diameters operated at 50 °C using a diluted milk protein concentrate with 85% protein on a total solids basis (MPC85) as the MF feed. The limiting flux for the MF of diluted MPC85 was determined at 3 TP concentrations in the recirculation loop (8, 9, and 10%). The experiment was replicated 3 times for a total of 9 runs. On the morning of each run, MPC85 was diluted with reverse osmosis water to an MF feed TP concentration of 5.4%. In all runs, the starting flux was 55 kg/m(2) per hour, the flux was increased in steps until the limiting flux was reached. The minimum flux increase was 10 kg/m(2) per hour. The limiting flux decreased as TP concentration in the recirculation loop increased. The limiting flux was 154 ± 0.3, 133 ± 0.7, and 117 ± 3.3 kg/m(2) per hour at recirculation loop TP concentrations of 8.2 ± 0.07, 9.2 ± 0.04, and 10.2 ± 0.09%, respectively. No effect of recirculation loop TP concentration on the SP removal factor was detected. However, the SP removal factor decreased from 0.80 ± 0.02 to 0.75 ± 0.02 as flux was increased from the starting flux of 55 kg/m(2) per hour to the limiting flux, with a similar decrease seen at all recirculation loop TP concentrations.