Modular plants
13 Nov 2002
Emerson Process Management has landed a contract to design a control system for a series of 'fast track' modular pharmaceutical plants for Novo Nordisk Engineering (NNE).
The plants, which will consist of multiple skid-mounted units, will use PlantWeb digital plant architecture, Foundation fieldbus and the DeltaV automation system.
Novo Nordisk's approach is a response to the economic climate affecting the pharmaceutical industry, where market shifts, regulatory requirements, patent expiries and delayed investment decisions often call for plants to be built, modified or moved quickly.
To cope with this, NNE has developed the methodology of building the operational parts of its plants as standard modules, using several skid vendors, while the site itself is fitted out with buildings and utilities. The various plant units are then shipped to the site and integrated.
The first plant using this approach, a blood products plant, is now nearing completion after 18 months, but NNE believes that this could be reduced to a year, partly with the help of an integrated control system.
'By using fieldbus segments within each skid, interconnections are simplifed,' says Travis Hesketh, system sales director for Emerson. 'The DeltaV equipment on each skid integrates into the total plant control upon arrival at the final location, and is simple to reposition physically into the new control area.'
