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The terminals for on-site operation and monitoring of all chemical processes were replaced at a chemical pilot plant of the Schering AG Berlin. State-of-the-art screen technologies and ergonomically designed stainless-steel enclosure variants in compliance with the 94/9 EC - ATEXdirective are applied.
Schering AG founded in 1851 in the north of Berlin, is today an internationally successful pharmaceutical group, developing drugs of high medical value to offer people with life-threatening diseases new perspectives. Schering has the experience required for the research of specific agents to develop and produce successful drugs. More than 25,000 employees produce high-class agents and drugs at production sites all over the world.
As solvents are used at the chemical pilot plant, which classifies the production premises as hazardous areas, these plants have to be categorised as II 2 G EEx IIC T4 in accordance with the EC directive 1999/92 and accordinglylabelled. Simultaneously, all equipment components installed in theseareas have to meet increased requirements as to material resistance and cleaning, which implies that they must be largely made of stainlesssteel. At this pilot plant, all processes have been reliably controlled by a distributed process control system for approximately 10 years.Process control, however, is realised directly on site. All PCs required for this purpose are arranged in respective electrical control rooms in the safe area. Schering decided in favour of a remote concept, i.e. the PCs remain in the safe area, only keyboard, mouse and monitor are installed in the Ex area. Within the scope of the initial investment, 19“ tube monitors were used which were successively replaced by TFTdisplays with a corresponding screen diagonal. To comply with the requirements of explosion protection, pressurised enclosure protection was selected.
The Schering AG prepared specifications including adetailed description of the requirements placed upon the process visualisation to be modernised.
• Use of state-of-the-art technologies
• Ergonomic arrangement of all screen-based workplaces
• Adjustable rotation and tilt mechanism of the screen within technically feasible limits
• Maintenance of all conventional functionalities concerning operation of the process visualisation
• Unlimited furtheruse of the available PC technology (hardware and software)
• Employment of available stainless-steel desks as mechanical protection
•Detached arrangement of keyboard and mouse in separate stainless-steel enclosures
• Enclosures principally made of stainless steel, IP 65, resistant to organic solvents
• Use of available installations at the plants to the greatest possible extent
• If possible, no additional space requirements in the control cabinets as the available space is almost completely occupied
To meet the requirements placed upon the applications under the operating conditions specified, devices of the Bartec Polaris series are used. All devices have been approved in accordance with ATEX. The new design of the operating front istransparently and clearly structured. A polyester foil provides reliable protection against splash water, resulting in degree of protectionIP 65. The screen of the Bartec Polaris remote devices is a 19.1“ TFTdisplay with SXGA resolution, characterised by its brilliance and large reading angle both in horizontal and vertical direction. Whilst offering a contrast of 700:1. The display of 16.7 million colours and brightness degrees up to 250cd/m˛ guarantee an overview of all processeseven in adverse operating conditions.
As the installed remoteconcept has been accurately maintained, no modifications of the available PCs were required. The same applies to all available operator entries and response times of the systems, which, in addition to the considerably improved operating and monitoring characteristics, has resulted in a high user acceptance of the new systems.
Bartec not only supplied the components but also provided the customer with a complete solution within 6 weeks. The scope of the solution basically comprised the planning and construction, the disassembly of the available technologies, the installation of the entire newly supplied technical equipment ant the commissioning of the complete system. The scheduling of theproject realisation had been determined in close co-operation with the client. The project was partially implemented while processes were executed, i.e. under Ex conditions, and completed by the Bartec staff to the full satisfaction of the client. When the production facilitieswere re-started after a scheduled downtime on 23.12.2005, “the lightswere burning brightly again on Christmas“.
“Within very short time, Bartec has realised a solution for Schering, which accurately corresponds to our ideas and the prospects for a future co-operation alsoin other fields of safety technology are positive“ summarised Dr. Thomas Brix, project manager for Schering AG Berlin. He surely not only refers to the project progress. Within the scope of follow-up projects,further visualisation systems are to be converted to the new technology. At the Bergkamen production site, three Bartec Polaris systems have been delivered for application in the disposal and environmental protection sectors.
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