Consumption visualisation system for pharamceutical steam sterilizers

AI Quick Summary

How can you reduce the resource consumption of a machine if you don't even know how much of which resource it uses? We think that we first have to show our worldwide customers (with currently about 3000 active systems) how many resources our steam sterilisers require before they realise that there is immense potential in optimising the systems.Therefore, we would like to develop an "consumption visualisation system" for our pharmaceutical systems. Can you still remember when there was no display in a car to show how much fuel you had used in the last hundred kilometres? When you drove to the petrol station when the tank was empty? Back in 1977, BMW installed a fuel consumption display in a car for the first time to show customers how much the car consumed while driving. Over time, these on-board computers have developed further and now show, for example, which driving measures can reduce consumption. So, what do cars have to do with Belimed Life Science pharmaceutical systems? Our systems are used by pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Roche or Lonza in the production of pharmaceuticals to sterilise various products. Just like with a car, the user can decide for himself in which way this happens - whether to drive fast or slowly, take the direct route or accept a diversion. Most of our systems are custom-made, which means that the customer decides for himself how to reach his destination. Therefore, it is not possible today to make a blanket statement about how many resources our systems consume and what measures can be taken to reduce them. There is also no steam steriliser for pharmaceutical companies on the market today that shows the specific resource consumption. Customers with larger production capacities in particular are therefore only able to assess their CO2 emissions and their reduction options to a limited extent. We want to remedy this with an on-board computer for measuring the consumption of our systems. You are probably wondering what is so innovative about this?A supposedly simple solution would be to install measuring devices for water, steam, compressed air and electricity in all the connection lines of the systems. This would be an expensive solution, would mean additional effort for the installation and would also only be retrofittable with great effort. We are therefore striving for a solution that is again based on a car's on-board computer. In cars, consumption is not measured, but calculated on the basis of the injector opening times and other parameters determined by the engine control unit.The consumption measurement we are aiming for is therefore a pure software solution.In this research project, a calculation programme for resource consumption is to be developed. This programme can reliably calculate the resource consumption of a system with the existing sensors and measured values. The following media and resource consumptions are to be determined for this purpose:- Water vapour (water vapour temperatures of at least 130°C)- Compressed air (generated by electric compressors)- Operating current- Cooling water?- VE - water (treated water) The on-board computer software will be installed on customer systems after completion and will record data over a certain period of time. With the help of this data base, it will be possible to derive design and utilisation strategies for reducing media consumption and CO2 emissions.How big are the potential savings?The greatest energy consumption comes from the production of steam. According to our exemplary measurements, the steam consumption for a predefined cycle of a standard steam steriliser is about 115 kg steam. Taking into account heat losses of about 20%, this corresponds to 105 kWh of heating power, which in most cases is generated by natural gas. In normal operation (300 working days of 5 cycles each), 153'000 kWh are thus required in the course of a year. Natural gas combustion produces CO2 emissions of 200 g/kWh on average, or annual emissions of 30 t CO2 per steam steriliser.In addition, there is the electricity consumption for operating current of 4,500 kWh per year. Other energy requirements exist for cooling the steriliser and generating compressed air, which cannot be quantified at present.The number of Belimed Life Science systems active on the market is currently estimated at around 3,000. If a saving of 10% could be realised in 20% of the systems through small optimisations in the application behaviour, this would result in an annual savings potential of 1800 t CO2 for steam generation alone. This corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions of about 1300 cars (assumption: 10,000 km/year, 138 g CO2/km). Larger energy efficiency measures, such as heat recovery, can save even more than 10% of the energy consumption. Estimates suggest savings of more than 50%. However, this must be assessed separately on a case-by-case basis and also depends on the local conditions at the client's premises.By showing our clients what they consume, they are made aware of operational optimisations for CO2 reduction.In a first step, the development of an on-board computer is planned. In a second step, the on-board computer will be tested at customers' facilities as part of a pilot project. In the future, Belimed Life Science intends to offer its customers appropriate consulting solutions in order to reduce resource consumption.What problem would you like to solve?Currently it is not known how much energy our steam sterilisers really need for operation and what CO2 emissions they cause. This should be calculated and visualised with the on-board computer. The whole thing should open our eyes to the fact that there is a lot of potential for optimisation here.Who are the customers and how will they profit from a solution?Our customers are pharmaceutical companies and laboratories worldwide. They would benefit from huge savings, especially in fossil fuels, as most of the energy for a steriliser is generated by natural gas. How does your project idea affect energy savings or CO2 emissions?Our project is an "eye opener". Many customers do not know what CO2 footprint they leave with our equipment because no values are available. If you recognise the enormously high consumption, measures can be introduced to reduce this consumption.What has been tried before?The "consumption" of a steriliser has been measured once before and that was during the basic development more than a decade ago. However, this measurement has as much to do with reality as the NEDC consumption figures for a car. Consumption can be twice as high, depending on how the customer operates the steam steriliser.What was not successful?This task has never been done before. What have you learned?Especially the last 2 years have shown that our customers attach more and more importance to the sustainability of our systems. As a manufacturer, we have never been able to answer questions about the consumption of the equipment, as it is our customer's company secret what they do with the steam steriliser. We have learned that the demand for the real consumption values is always increasing. Our customers want to know what the equipment is consuming so that they can then work on optimisations. What are your planned work packages?1. create a concept: What should be calculated and how. Which sensors are available. Establish the theory for the calculation.2. do practical experiments on a test steriliser with flowmeters. Record data3. analyse the data and create an algorithm that computationally replicates these readings.4. creation of software that calculates the measured values.5. experimenting with the software on a test steriliser. How can the Energy Lab help you?For the development we need bright minds from the fields of thermodynamics or process engineering. People who recognise connections and understand how all resource consumption can be calculated and visualised without additional measuring systems. We would like to have the development carried out by the Energy Lab itself, a partner or a university. Of course, we make our know-how and test steam sterilisers available.

Project Idea Metadata

• Project Idea Name: Consumption visualisation system for pharamceutical steam sterilizers
• Date: 2/25/2022 8:15:52 AM
• Administrators:
  • Jochen Schlag

Project Idea Description

Can you still remember when there was no display in a car to show how much fuel you had used in the last hundred kilometres? When you drove to the petrol station when the tank was empty?

Back in 1977, BMW installed a fuel consumption display in a car for the first time to show customers how much the car consumed while driving. Over time, these on-board computers have developed further and now show, for example, which driving measures can reduce consumption.

So, what do cars have to do with Belimed Life Science pharmaceutical systems?

Our systems are used by pharmaceutical companies such as Novartis, Roche or Lonza in the production of pharmaceuticals to sterilise various products. Just like with a car, the user can decide for himself in which way this happens - whether to drive fast or slowly, take the direct route or accept a diversion. Most of our systems are custom-made, which means that the customer decides for himself how to reach his destination.

Therefore, it is not possible today to make a blanket statement about how many resources our systems consume and what measures can be taken to reduce them. There is also no steam steriliser for pharmaceutical companies on the market today that shows the specific resource consumption. Customers with larger production capacities in particular are therefore only able to assess their CO2 emissions and their reduction options to a limited extent. We want to remedy this with an on-board computer for measuring the consumption of our systems.

You are probably wondering what is so innovative about this?

A supposedly simple solution would be to install measuring devices for water, steam, compressed air and electricity in all the connection lines of the systems. This would be an expensive solution, would mean additional effort for the installation and would also only be retrofittable with great effort. We are therefore striving for a solution that is again based on a car's on-board computer. In cars, consumption is not measured, but calculated on the basis of the injector opening times and other parameters determined by the engine control unit.

The consumption measurement we are aiming for is therefore a pure software solution.

In this research project, a calculation programme for resource consumption is to be developed. This programme can reliably calculate the resource consumption of a system with the existing sensors and measured values. The following media and resource consumptions are to be determined for this purpose:

- Water vapour (water vapour temperatures of at least 130°C)

- Compressed air (generated by electric compressors)

- Operating current

- Cooling water?

- VE - water (treated water)

The on-board computer software will be installed on customer systems after completion and will record data over a certain period of time. With the help of this data base, it will be possible to derive design and utilisation strategies for reducing media consumption and CO2 emissions.

How big are the potential savings?

The greatest energy consumption comes from the production of steam. According to our exemplary measurements, the steam consumption for a predefined cycle of a standard steam steriliser is about 115 kg steam. Taking into account heat losses of about 20%, this corresponds to 105 kWh of heating power, which in most cases is generated by natural gas. In normal operation (300 working days of 5 cycles each), 153'000 kWh are thus required in the course of a year. Natural gas combustion produces CO2 emissions of 200 g/kWh on average, or annual emissions of 30 t CO2 per steam steriliser.

In addition, there is the electricity consumption for operating current of 4,500 kWh per year. Other energy requirements exist for cooling the steriliser and generating compressed air, which cannot be quantified at present.

The number of Belimed Life Science systems active on the market is currently estimated at around 3,000. If a saving of 10% could be realised in 20% of the systems through small optimisations in the application behaviour, this would result in an annual savings potential of 1800 t CO2 for steam generation alone. This corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions of about 1300 cars (assumption: 10,000 km/year, 138 g CO2/km).

Larger energy efficiency measures, such as heat recovery, can save even more than 10% of the energy consumption. Estimates suggest savings of more than 50%. However, this must be assessed separately on a case-by-case basis and also depends on the local conditions at the client's premises.

By showing our clients what they consume, they are made aware of operational optimisations for CO2 reduction.

In a first step, the development of an on-board computer is planned. In a second step, the on-board computer will be tested at customers' facilities as part of a pilot project. In the future, Belimed Life Science intends to offer its customers appropriate consulting solutions in order to reduce resource consumption.

What problem would you like to solve?

Currently it is not known how much energy our steam sterilisers really need for operation and what CO2 emissions they cause. This should be calculated and visualised with the on-board computer. The whole thing should open our eyes to the fact that there is a lot of potential for optimisation here.

Who are the customers and how will they profit from a solution?

Our customers are pharmaceutical companies and laboratories worldwide. They would benefit from huge savings, especially in fossil fuels, as most of the energy for a steriliser is generated by natural gas.

How does your project idea affect energy savings or CO2 emissions?

Our project is an "eye opener". Many customers do not know what CO2 footprint they leave with our equipment because no values are available. If you recognise the enormously high consumption, measures can be introduced to reduce this consumption.

What has been tried before?

The "consumption" of a steriliser has been measured once before and that was during the basic development more than a decade ago. However, this measurement has as much to do with reality as the NEDC consumption figures for a car. Consumption can be twice as high, depending on how the customer operates the steam steriliser.

What was not successful?

This task has never been done before.

What have you learned?

Especially the last 2 years have shown that our customers attach more and more importance to the sustainability of our systems. As a manufacturer, we have never been able to answer questions about the consumption of the equipment, as it is our customer's company secret what they do with the steam steriliser. We have learned that the demand for the real consumption values is always increasing. Our customers want to know what the equipment is consuming so that they can then work on optimisations.

What are your planned work packages?

1. create a concept: What should be calculated and how. Which sensors are available. Establish the theory for the calculation.

2. do practical experiments on a test steriliser with flowmeters. Record data

3. analyse the data and create an algorithm that computationally replicates these readings.

4. creation of software that calculates the measured values.

5. experimenting with the software on a test steriliser.

How can the Energy Lab help you?

For the development we need bright minds from the fields of thermodynamics or process engineering. People who recognise connections and understand how all resource consumption can be calculated and visualised without additional measuring systems. We would like to have the development carried out by the Energy Lab itself, a partner or a university. Of course, we make our know-how and test steam sterilisers available.

How can you reduce the resource consumption of a machine if you don't even know how much of which resource it uses?

We think that we first have to show our worldwide customers (with currently about 3000 active systems) how many resources our steam sterilisers require before they realise that there is immense potential in optimising the systems.

Therefore, we would like to develop an "consumption visualisation system" for our pharmaceutical systems.