Batch Simulation/Control gets a Boost at Hyprotech

N/Ansiderable degree, both process control and process simulation technology has been developed first for continuous processes, and later for batch processes. But that technological gap has just shrunk, based on two recent announcements. The first is an alliance between Aspen Technology, Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and PID, Inc. (Phoenix, Ariz.), involving their respective products, Batch.21 and Batch Plus, and PID's OpenBatch. The other is from Hyprotech Ltd. (Calgary, Canada), which has obtained the exclusive worldwide marketing and development rights to BatchDesign-Kit (BDK), originally developed at MIT's Dept. of Chemical Engineering.

PID's OpenBatch complements AspenTech's BATCH PLUS recipe-based simulation engine and its Batch.21 batch information management system. Companies use BATCH PLUS to design and refine recipes and the batch process. OpenBatch is used to manage and control the production process and report critical event data. The integration of OpenBatch with the Batch.21 information management system will allow users to archive batch events and process data for purposes of analysis and comparison against "ideal" batches. This solution helps customers reduce waste and improve plant efficiencies with operational, recipe or design changes.

Batch.21 is a batch information management system that provides a powerful tool to query batch process data quickly and easily, based on process conditions such as temperatures and pressures and on characteristics such as batch IDs, ingredients charged or property information. With its integrated batch displays, time-series data such as temperatures, flows and pressures, can now be viewed in a batch context. Batch.21 accurately captures batch process data for analysis by users and exports it to other systems.

OpenBatch software is a modular batch automation solution that runs on Microsoft Windows NT. It is a flexible solution for organizations handling recipe management and execution for single unit-level operations up to complex, multi-product tasks. It was one of the first integrated software systems both to be compliant with ISA S88 batch-control protocols and to run on the NT platform.

BDK is a computer-aided system that has been designed to support process development and design activities in the batch manufacturing of pharmaceutical, agricultural, specialty and fine chemicals. Previously, the software had been offered commercially by Gensym Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.) as part of a consortium involving MIT, the Emissions Reduction Research Center at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.) and several pharmaceutical companies.

Mark Isaacs, Product Manager for BDK at Hyprotech, says that the program offers enables process chemists and chemical engineers to:

• Rapidly select the optimum chemical synthesis route to maximize the probability of commercial success
• Shorten the process development cycle
• Optimize supply chain, waste processing and facility utilization costs.

According to Professor George Stephanopoulos, head of the Laboratory for Intelligent Process Engineering at MIT, "BDK is a new breed of software with capabilities that bridge the gap between the needs of process chemists and chemical engineers involved in the development and design of batch processes, as well as supporting the rapid transfer to pilot and manufacturing plants."

Industry insiders believe that pharmaceutical companies must more than triple their output of novel drugs in order to maintain a 10 percent annual growth rate in the years to come. To achieve this, attention is increasingly being focused on scale-up and process development as the potential bottleneck in the product lifecycle. Asish Ghosh, vice president of Automation Research Corp., says that "users will gain significant benefits, such as reduced batch project implementation and FDA validation efforts and easier batch to batch comparison and optimization" through the close integration of OpenBatch and Batch.21. Automation Research Corp. (Dedham, Mass.) is a leading market research and consulting company, exclusively focused on process control.

Kate Waters, group leader of the manufacturing information technology group at Genentech, which already benefits from the OpenBatch-Batch.21 integration, said, "The Batch.21 and PID OpenBatch Interface allows us to map OpenBatch events directly into Batch.21 events and characteristics, helping streamline the FDA batch report generation and validation efforts. Having the interface active in the testing environment has helped develop recipes and improve our start-up efficiency."

Hyprotech supplies process simulation solutions that empower customers in the petroleum, petrochemical, and chemical industries to improve design, optimize production, and enhance decision-making. Its flagship product is Hysys, a combined dynamic/steady-state simulator. The company was acquired this summer by <%=company%> plc group of companies, an international science and engineering services company with 3,800 people worldwide and $420 million in sales.

Aspen Technology, Inc. is a leading supplier of software and services for the analysis, design and automation of process manufacturing plants in industries such as chemical, petroleum, pharmaceuticals, electric power, pulp and paper, and metals. AspenTech employs more than 1,300, with offices in 21 countries worldwide.

For more information, contact:

Toni Lee Rudnicki, Aspen Technology, Inc., Tel: 617-949-1472 tonilee.rudnicki@aspentech.com

Mark Isaacs, Hyprotech, Product Manager, BDK, mark.isaacs@hyprotech.com

Michael Saucier, PID, Inc., www.pid.com