DSM Capua Pharmaceuticals Plant Extends Use of Engineered Automation Solution from Emerson
Italian pharmaceuticals manufacturer DSM Capua has chosen PlantWeb digital plant architecture with the DeltaV digital automation system from Emerson Process Management for upgrading their fermentation plant capability.
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Capua is a bulk pharmaceuticals manufacturer that runs 28 separate fermentation plants and has extended the use of engineered automation solutions from Emerson.
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Initial installation phases demonstrated the advantages and simplicity of PlantWeb's DeltaV system, and led DSM to adopt AMS predictive maintenance software that works with intelligent field devices within PlantWeb architecture for the next phases of installation.
Based in Naples, Italy, DSM Capua is a bulk pharmaceuticals and food ingredients manufacturer. DSM runs twenty eight separate fermentation plants, mostly equipped with pneumatic measurement and control systems, which requires considerable control room space. Upgrading of the control systems was needed to improve efficiency and control, and to allow multi-product production in each fermentation plant. New systems had to be installed alongside the old, in modular phases that did not disrupt production.
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At DSM Capua, the new PlantWeb architecture and DeltaV system had to be installed alongside the old without disrupting production.
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The initial phase of the DeltaV installation, undertaken by engineers from Emerson Italy, in co-operation with the DSM Capua engineers, was to control the FER1 fermentation plant, used for the production of erthromycin. This module involved installation of a 200-input/output DeltaV system with two workstations, one for production control and one for engineering. Because of the small DeltaV footprint, control room space was not a problem. The flexibility of DeltaV soon became apparent when OPC drivers were used to export the process data to the DSM R&D facility in Holland
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Because of the small footprint of PlantWeb's DeltaV™ system, space was not a problem for the upgrade at DSM Capua.
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The success at FER1 led to a further installation on another DSM Capua plant, where a new process for the production of an anti-fungal was needed. Again employing PlantWeb architecture, new intelligent field instrumentation from Emerson was installed. HART communications technology in the instruments enabled interface with the DeltaV digital automation system. Production management found the graphics environment on the DeltaV system particularly straightforward, enabling the operator to understand the new system quickly. The R&D engineers in Holland found surprising advantages, being able to monitor data about the process that had not been available before. Above all, the modularity of the DeltaV system has allowed different sections of the plant to be automated in phases, alongside existing equipment.
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The graphics environment of PlantWeb's DeltaV™ system was straightforward and quickly understood by DSM Capua operators.
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The next PlantWeb installation will address a process designed to extract a new antibiotic. The project will involve 300 input/output and four DeltaV workstations. Integrated into this phase will be AMS software, which will assist the maintenance operations across the instrumentation on the plant. The AMS predictive maintenance software provides easy calibration and checkout, and has an audit trail feature that automatically documents all maintenance actions and information. Since DSM Capua expend a considerable part of their production effort on quality assurance and control, documentation is a necessary part of their FDA product certification, and they see considerable potential benefits from DeltaV and the PlantWeb approach for this requirement.
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