Chemical Engineering June 2023 - 25

VALVE AUTOMATION
SMART
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ECONOMIC
FIGURE 2. The initial O-PAS focus is on continuous and hybrid processing, and will expand to discrete
manufacturing in the future
As the guide states, OPAF focuses
on the standards and business guidance
required to achieve interoperability,
modularity and portability of a
process control system's hardware
and software components. The business
advantages of these attributes
are improved and more economical
reuse of software components, an
increased ability to apply innovative
technology and enhanced management
of hardware obsolescence. The
O-PAS scope, in terms of industrial
control system (ICS) components, is
depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 2 illustrates the vertical market,
or industry span. According to
OPAF, the initial O-PAS focus is on
continuous and hybrid manufacturing.
Due to the equipment differences
between those two types of manufacturing
and discrete operations, OPAF
plans to consider discrete manufacturing
in the future.
OPA benefits for biopharma
The first of the " Business Scenario
Examples " in Appendix C in the
O-PAS Business Guide is entitled,
" Biopharmaceutical Industrial Control
System Integration and Qualification. "
It provides an illustrative example
of business benefits of OPA.
The biopharmaceutical business
scenario describes a greenfield plant
in which OPA enables manufacturers
to readily automate an assortment
of original equipment manufacturers
(OEM) skid-mounted process units,
such as centrifuges and fermenters.
OPAF has observed that the biopharmaceutical
industry is constantly
striving for a faster time-tomarket
for new products. The fact
that industry economics reward the
company that is the first on the market
with a new product drives manufacturers
to build and qualify plants
as quickly as possible. However,
during clinical trials, which are subject
to high failure rates, manufacturers
avoid committing capital until the
latest stage possible. Once a clinical
trial is successful, a company faces
a very compressed timeline to bring
a new manufacturing facility online.
This often compels the manufacturer
to simply use the control systems
that are delivered with the OEM
process units, rather than risking delays,
which could result from qualifying
an entirely new system. As OPAF
points out, re-engineering to a preferred
supplier's system is expensive
and time-consuming. Settling on the
OEM skid suppliers' control systems
requires the manufacturer or a systems
integrator to develop custom
interfaces to tie them all together but
enables a faster time-to-market.
The guide continues to point out
that biopharmaceutical companies
are seeking seamless interoperability
between control systems from different
suppliers to reduce the time for
project engineering and qualification.
By simplifying the integration via a
standard process-control
architecture,
biopharmaceutical companies
can minimize the time necessary to
build and qualify new plants.
The appendix concludes: A standard,
open process control architecture,
as proposed by OPAF, would
facilitate the connection of disparate
automation equipment at the skid
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Chemical Engineering June 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering June 2023