Hans Coertse (Anderson Engineering) and
Zithulele Buthelezi (NBI) inspecting the
final installation of the equipment

It's four years since I drafted the first Inside AE. As I wrote at the time, the newsletter was born because "there are many developments and exciting things that happen at the company that we would like to share and tell you about but seldom have the opportunity to do". This is our sixth edition and so much has happened since then, but the constants, as I see them, have been change and growth.

We have been extremely fortunate to experience strong growth over these four years, despite the uncertain economy. Our clients continue to invest in their processing facilities and present us with new and exciting challenges.

Turnkey projects now account for as much as 75% of our business and this has resulted in the expansion of our team, with a number of the members now having more specialised roles in order to ensure that we can fulfil the demands of this kind of work. These projects invariably include process control systems, pipework installation, documentation, commissioning and handover, which is over and above the process design and fabrication for which we have been known.

We are also constantly reviewing and improving our systems. However, it is always a balancing act, as I'm sure you know, as we juggle deadlines and the workload through the various stages while ensuring that we design the most appropriate solutions and manufacture the quality of plant that you have come to expect of us. We work long hours in an effort to ensure that we don't disappoint you, and we do our best to meet your deadlines.

In this edition of Inside AE we focus on the upgrading of the fractionation facility at the National Blood Institute. This is the biggest turnkey project that Anderson Engineering has undertaken to date and many lessons were learnt along the way.

Preliminary discussions with respect to the National Bioproducts Institute (NBI) blood plasma fractionation project began around 2007. However, the project started gaining momentum only after the Finnish engineering and plasma process consultants Rintekno had conducted a needs analysis and compiled the base process description document. After much discussion and a series of intense meetings, with several revisions of the scope of work, production started in 2010.

Blood plasma fractionation entails the general processes of separating the various components of blood plasma to manufacture pharmaceutical products, such as human albumin solutions, human immunoglobulin (antibody) preparations, and human coagulation (clotting) factor proteins. The processing method requires the absolute control of four critical parameters, namely alcohol concentration, temperature, pH and ionic strength to extract and purify therapeutic proteins in plasma. Plasma fractionation with ethanol is still the most widely used plasma protein production process internationally.

Please remember that our website is updated regularly and contains a project gallery where we feature additional projects that we have undertaken. You can find us at www.andersoneng.co.za.

The year ahead is looking promising, based on the number of enquiries and the commitments we have already received. We certainly hope that business is good for you too, as we hope to continue our relationship for many years to come. May I take this opportunity to wish you a prosperous new year. As always, I would really appreciate any comments you may have. Hans Coertse Managing Member

Based on their capacity and compliance requirements, NBI made a decision to upgrade their fractionation facility with the assistance of Anderson Engineering. Managing member Hans Coertse comments, "It was a project that pushed many of our boundaries; it was an exciting project, one that we enjoyed immensely."

There were significant physical constraints, and the equipment had to be designed accordingly. The plant installed comprised:

• CIP equipment: specifically designed to fit into one of the smaller areas within the facility.
• Main Process Room containing the four 6 500 litre fractionation vessels, a 2 000 litre dissolution vessel, the buffer dispensing system and the control panels (accessed through an upper level platform).
• Control Room, separated from the main process room by a glass viewing window.
• Glycol Chilling Plant (5 000 litres) and utilities installed on the level above the process room, as these will function under the normal ventilation conditions in that area.

Some noteworthy aspects of the project:

• The equipment was designed to cope with temperatures ranging from -30°C to 122°C.
• The surface area of mirror polishing required on the vessel internal surfaces was 158 square metres.
• We used 1,38 kilometres of stainless steel processing pipes.
• We installed a further 1,5 kilometres of pneumatic pipes, which connect to 250 pneumatic valves, for controlling the field process valves.
• We installed 900 cables, with a total length of 18 kilometres.
• This project marked our first complete adherence to the GAMP control and documentation system. (We had previously worked extensively with Aspen on the documentation aspect and brought this experience to bear in this project.)
• We had to work with stainless steel and granite in the control area to achieve the hygiene levels required.
• Air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical and control systems specialists were contracted to complement the skill set of the Anderson team, and they worked synergistically with us to achieve the desired end.
  

"Anderson was the best positioned to deliver on our requirements. We took into account the quality of your workmanship, your experience in the pharmaceutical and food industries, as well as the references you received. It has been a pleasure working with Hans and the Anderson team."
- David Stubbings, CEO of NBI

Anderson Engineering made a decision to look into how we could help the Sunnyside Farm at the suggestion of Shannon Elliott (wife of Brenton Elliott an employee of the company). Sunnyside Farm is managed under the auspices of the PMHS. It is a residential facility for 60 mentally challenged adults, located in the Bulwer district. The farm runs a dairy for internal use and also makes butter, maas and cream which are sold onto the local community. A 40 litre dairy urn is essential for the transferring of milk from the milking cluster to the vat. The urn was worn out and so we assisted by replacing it with a new one.

Hans Coertse handing over the urn to Peter Parry, dairy manager of Sunnyside Farm
(representing Pietermaritzburg Mental Health Society)