Cleaning System for Pharma Manufacturing Process

Project

The scope of this project was to design a system for dosing Citric Acid and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) into GE Healthcare’s 4200 L bio-processing tank, as part of an automated cleaning cycle. The designed system is intended to:

  • Minimize employee exposure to chemicals
  • Dose the necessary amount of chemicals in 3 minutes or less
  • Dose the necessary chemicals within a 0.5% tolerance
  • Neutralize the cleaning solution to a pH level between 6 and 9
  • Have a design-life of at least 10 years
Cleaning aparatis

Methods

  • Determine a functional system that matches requirements
  • Define components for the system
  • Order components and create guidelines for the installation
  • Develop a testing strategy to ensure the system would function as designed
  1. Intermediate tank
  2. Wilden Pump
  3. Coriolis Flow Meter
  4. Pneumatic Actuated Angle Seat Valve
  5. 4200 L Tank
Chemical Containers
System Diagram

Conclusion

  • We adjusted our target value until the desired value of chemical was detected and proved that the system works and the data is repeatable.
  • Chemicals arrived to the 4200 L tank in 30 seconds for NaOH and 50 seconds for Citric Acid.
  • We tested the pH value after NaOH and Citric Acid were run through the system. By adjusting the Citric Acid amount, we were able to reach an acceptable pH range.

Sydney Taylor, Daniel George, Travis Hotchkiss, Korbin Markos

Special Thanks to Derek Scott, Spencer Wendel, Blair Martin, Michael Cowley, and the GE Team