3D Plant Design Helps Astra Design New Pharmaceutical Plant

3D-plant design was a significant help to Astra Södertälje in designing a new pharmaceutical plant. The use of 3D design made it possible for engineers to create an accurate scale model of the plant, in software, that included every line in the plant. This enabled determination of the exact dimensions of each piece of piping so they could be fabricated in advance. Everything fit together perfectly at the job site and there were few problems requiring last minute changes.

Astra, an international pharmaceutical company, has entered a phase of rapid growth. The company's research program, started in the early 1930s, has led over time to a series of important pharmaceuticals. These include Xylocaine (local anesthetic), Seloken and Plendil (cardiovascular agents), Bricanyl and Pulmicort (antiasthma agents), the Turbuhaler inhaler for asthma products, among others, and Losec (gastrointestinal agent). Astra employs 21,000 professionals, of whom 65% work outside Sweden.

The new Södertälje plant breaks new ground by being flexible enough to produce nearly any Astra product. It has about 10,000 square meters of production space and about the same amount of office and laboratory space. The production area has large reactor vessels ranging up to 5000 liters in size. Up to the time that Astra began work on this project, it had never fully designed a plant in 3D. Its only other use of this technology was at a very limited level on an earlier plant in France. The previous 3D-design application used the model mainly for presentation purposes.

Shortly before starting work on the new plant, the author proposed building the entire design process around the 3D model. The 3D model would first be carefully checked for design integrity, interferences and ergonomics. Specifications and vendor information for each valve, instrument, and line would be entered into a textual database linked to the model. Then, the model would be used to automatically generate the entire documentation package for the project with the assurance that every drawing was consistent with all the others.

The proposal also included replacing the 3D software used on the earlier project, which the designers had found to be quite difficult to learn. Engineering management began looking for a program whose interface was intuitive enough to enable the company to provide its piping engineers with a relatively painless transition to 3D. At the same time, the program required enough power to model the large, advanced pharmaceutical plants, which the company has been building recently to keep up with demand for its new products. Management selected AutoPLANT plant design software from Rebis (Walnut Creek, CA). This package works as an add-on to AutoCAD computer aided design software, which has become an industry standard. Astra management found the AutoPLANT package easy to work with, yet its capabilities matched or exceeded competitive programs.

Using AutoPLANT, the piping engineer starts with the P&ID, which defines the number, material, dimensional specifications and contents of each pipe. The engineer begins working in the plan view and locates each piece of equipment. Then he or she locates the ends of each piping segment either by typing in coordinates or clicking with a mouse. Rather than simply entering elevation data on the 2D drawing, the elevation becomes an integral part of the 3D model. Utilizing this third dimension allows the model to be viewed from any view or rotation angle.

An automated feature of AutoPLANT places a full 3D pipe in the position that the engineer has defined. The centerline of the pipe is dressed in a cylinder with proper dimensions taken from the specifications database. The software also writes to the project database each of the components that have been used in the project. The result is a 3D model that can be used later to almost automatically create whatever plan views, sections, ISOs, installation drawings and perspective views are required. ISOs produced by this approach have elevations and dimensions tagged and located and materials for purchasing clearly called out. All of these drawings are generated from the same 3D model so that, after the model has been checked, they are certain to be correct.

With conventional manual drafting techniques, it would typically take several weeks for a design change to ripple through to construction documents. Thus, construction frequently would have to work with incorrect and conflicting information. Now, all of the information contained in all schedules and drawings can typically be combined into a single model. Just one entry then effects a change that automatically updates all of the relevant documentation so that it is correct the next time it is printed.

AutoPLANT's link to a text database also provides timesavings. Designers are now freed from the need to enter descriptions on the drawings. Instead, specifications for each component are typed into a simple flat-file textual database. After data entry, only modifications need to be entered into the database. Whenever a symbol is entered into the drawing the textual information is automatically linked to it. This information can then be used in reports such as the bill of materials, valve and specialty lists, instrument lists, and line designation schedules. Data can be manipulated to save engineering time, i.e. by separating stainless steel components onto a different report or subtracting the length of in-line components to provide cut length data. If an error is discovered in a specification, it can be corrected simply by typing the correct data into the database. The change is automatically updated, throughout all drawings.

The first project completed with the new software took about the same number of piping engineering hours that would have been required to design the plant in 2D. But it's important to mention that all of the time required to install, customize and learn the new software package was included in the engineering budget for the new plant. Time comparisons on the later stages of the project, when engineers were familiar with its use, showed a timesaving of between 20% and 30% compared to the old 2D approach. Astra management expects to receive the full benefit of these timesavings in its second 3D project, which is now underway.

The new 3D drawing methodology also improves drawing accuracy. Components are automatically placed from a specification, which means that it's virtually impossible to put a 150-pound flange in a 400-pound line. A single specification is assigned to each and every line. Once that is done, the only components that can be placed on the line are those assigned to that specification. The program also provides the ability to run consistency and connectivity checks. This usually eliminates the need to rearrange or redesign during the installation phase when changes cost perhaps 10 times more than in the early design phase. Other disciplines are also able to use the model to eliminate errors.

The quality of drawing is also improved because consistency between plan drawings, sections, ISOs, perspectives, valve lists and bills of materials is assured. It is possible to determine the operability of the approach at the earliest design stages. The photorealistic model makes it seem as if the operator is walking through the plant.

Escapeways and accessibility of various areas can be easily viewed. Working in 3D, the operator gets a clearer picture of the plant, which helps to eliminate errors and, using an automatic clash detector, to highlight any interferences.

During our design process Astra designers were able to examine the model from any desired perspective and perform automated interference checks that gave them the confidence to specify exact dimensions and order prefabricated lines. The result was a reduction in construction time. As pharmaceutical product life cycles are compressed, design and construction must often overlap in order to meet delivery lead-times. Astra is moving quickly towards this goal with a decision to use the 3D approach for its next plant-engineering project. In addition, management wants to expand the number of disciplines that can be incorporated into the 3D model. In its next project, the company plans to incorporate control and instrumentation diagrams and electrical design along with the piping model. The result is expected to be further improvements in time to market.

For more information: Nathalie Van Mulken, Rebis, 1600 Riviera Ave., Suite 300, Walnut Creek, CA 94596. Telephone: 925-933-2525. Fax: 925-933-1920.