Automation for India's largest life sciences plant

Emerson has won a major contract for PlantWeb digital automation architecture and solution services in a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in India

Emerson Process Management announced today that it had won a major contract from Reliance Life Sciences Pvt to supply PlantWeb digital automation architecture and solution services to its new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in India.

Reliance Life Sciences is a member of the Reliance Group of Companies, India's largest private sector enterprise.

The new facility is the largest automation project to date in the life sciences industry in India.

Reliance Life Sciences officials selected Emerson for its reputation and experience in the field of life sciences.

The new facility of Reliance Life Sciences will use microbial and mammalian cell culture processes to manufacture therapeutic proteins.

Emerson will provide engineering design, digital automation, process management, validation, and commissioning for the project.

The company will install its PlantWeb digital plant architecture, which has an extensive track record of lowering installation costs, ensuring a fast startup, and improving on-going plant operations and maintenance.

Emerson PlantWeb digital plant architecture will use Foundation fieldbus communications technology to connect DeltaV digital automation system and AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager to smart field devices.

The resulting network of digital intelligence will extend throughout the Reliance Life Sciences new plant, enabling project savings and operational excellence.

Intelligent field devices from Emerson will include Rosemount pressure, temperature, level and flow transmitters, as well as Rosemount Analytical pH and dissolved oxygen sensors and transmitters, Micro Motion Coriolis flow and density meters, and Brooks flowmeters.

Reliance has adopted a fast track OEM construction approach for Life Sciences plants, and has chosen Emerson as a main supplier for the initiative.

Supporting the OEM approach, Emerson will design and project manage skid vendors as they build modular "skids".

Emerson will employ its modular automation approach that enables fast start-up by quickly linking skids for effective communications when installed.

The fast and effective skid link-up results from building skids using intelligent digital technology, including PlantWeb architecture with Foundation fieldbus communications and the DeltaV system.

The OEM approach adopted by Reliance has been to create standard plant modules, complete with documents and drawings, based on known pre-tested process cells.

These are produced in parallel, and then all skids are integrated at the site to ensure automation consistency across the manufacturing floor, and provide a consolidated validation according to Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) procedure.

"We are happy to be associated with Emerson Process Management since it has proven capabilities in managing advanced digital automation architectures with cGMP norms," said K V Subramaniam, Head of Reliance Life Sciences.

"Reliance's new plant is the first fully automated life sciences plant in India," said Pradipta Sen, president of Emerson India.

"We are pleased that the Emerson advanced PlantWeb technology will be a part of this groundbreaking project, which will advance the modernisation and growth of the life sciences sector in India".

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