Fermenter
We have automated a wide range of fermenters from very small mobile units through to very large static tank systems. We have used a wide range of automation equipment, however one system in particular was for a blue chip biotech client and used Siemens S7 300 PLCs at its core together with iFIX SCADA. There are multiple fermenters, and the system has been split into logical groups with one PLC assigned to each group. There are multiple SCADA nodes, and these are split into similar logical groups. The system is networked on an automation LAN with data sharing as necessary. All salient data is gathered and stored on the related SCADA node, plus all required data is trended on screen. Batch reports are generated at the end of the process, these forming part of the GMP documentation set.