Visilume camera improves efficiency and quality

Active pharmaceutical ingredients and fine chemicals supplier, Macfarlan Smith, has improved operator efficiency at its Edinburgh plant following the installation of a Visilume VISULEX Ex Process Colour Camera System. Installed in a Zone 1 Hazardous area and clean room environment where access to the sightports is restricted, the compact system enables synchronised monitoring and control of a pharmaceutical filter dryer from a single remote location. Mafarlan Smith runs a state-of-the-art plant to the highest level of cGMP and prior to installing the camera, checking the contents of the dryer and controlling the drying process meant leaving the main plant and suiting up in clean room clothing which would take at least fifteen minutes. The VISULEX camera is mounted over a sight port on the dryer vessel and is connected to a PLC in a safe area 130 metres away. The operator accesses the PLC via a SCADA System where an image of the filter dryer content is embedded on the screen along side the dryer controls. Using this single screen the operator can, via a Hazardous area Terminal back on plant, remotely control the camera zoom and focus to monitor when solids first appear then regulate the agitator in order to smooth the mix during mother liquid removal. “Synchronisation of dryer contents monitoring and process control through integration of the camera image with the SCADA screen is the biggest benefit of the VISULEX camera system” says Ross Martin, Process Engineer at Macfarlan Smith. “It results in more efficient production control, because the system saves time on suiting up staff to view the filter dryer and enables one man to monitor and control the dryer, as well as supervise other processes from a single location.” “ The availability of continuous surveillance during the filtration operation also means that there is far more confidence in the process. For example, it is much easier to check that the cake is smooth during the mother liquor removal and before the wash is applied. This helps to ensure product quality”. This compact VISULEX Ex Process Colour Camera System is ATEX approved for Zone 1 and IP65 rated. Standard software enables remote control of zoom and focus, and has an image capturing facility for saving historical images for quality control and other purposes. The camera system can be connected to a single dedicated screen, via a PC or networks up to 500 metres away.

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