2007 successes and challenges Chemical Engineer Allan Mothersill at the low temperature refrigeration plant. Kenneth Humphries (left) and Robin Finn demonstrate the pulley hoist. Filter hoist reduces back strain During one of the processes a filter absorbs water from the THF solvent that is later reused. When the filters cannot absorb any more water they must be changed. We change the filters approximately five times a week. The filter works through small balls of clay (molecular sieve) which absorb the water and are held in socks. To change the filters you need to replace the filter sock, which can be rather heavy. The filter tank is quite high, and you have to lift out the socks and displace them into a container, Shift Production Team Leader Kenneth Humphries explains. The employees who work in that part of the plant were asked to come up with ideas for improving the process. One was selected, and, although quite simple, it seems to be a success. We put a lifting beam directly above the filter tanks with a pulley hoist and a double hook on the end which hooks inside the sock neck. To operate it you just wind it up with a simplified winding mechanism. We have two hoists that lift out four individual socks, and it may take a little longer, but it has reduced a lot of back strain and is more ergonomic. Slimming down the big energy users The site has two refrigeration systems. As both systems are among the biggest energy users on the site, it was decided to look for potential savings. The LT, Low Temperature, does the general cooling and cools all but one of the reactors. The LLT, Low Low Temperature, covers the grignard vessel and the SMB apparatus. The LT usually runs at 5 degrees Celsius, whereas the LLT runs to about minus 20 degrees. Someone said: `Why dont we try running the LT at 6 and 7 degrees and see what happens to the process? Every 1 degree change involves quite a big energy saving, so we tried at 6, 7 and 8 degrees with no problems. When we went to 9 degrees we experienced a few process delays, so we settled on 8 degrees as the final temperature, Senior Chemical Engineer Allan Mothersill explains. From the 3 degree change we have saved about 5 per cent of the energy used on that system. The other expensive system, the LLT, which covers the grignard vessel and the SMB apparatus, was running at minus 20 degrees for all 168 hours of the week. However the very low temperature was only needed for 44 hours for the grignard reaction. The SMB unit can go to about minus 5 degrees, so that doesnt really need the very low temperature. We replaced some software, so when a grignard reaction is about to occur, the operator goes to the main plant control system, selects `grignard mode on the refrigeration system, which then drops to minus 20 degrees. When the reaction is finished, he selects `SMB mode. In this way we have saved 65 hours of compressor running time per week. At the moment, we are buying electricity-monitoring equipment that we can clamp on to various pieces of equipment and record how much energy they use. We will put it on the LT system and also on the nitrogen system because we believe that further savings can be achieved there. Page 4 of 8 Health, Safety & Environment Report 2007, Seal Sands, England www.lundbeck.com/sustainability
Health, Safety & Environment Report 2007 Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Seal Sands, England Lund
2007 the year in review We have had a very good year in terms of our process activities. With som
2007 successes and challenges A good environment and a good working environment is crucial for Lu
2007 successes and challenges Chemical Engineer Allan Mothersill at the low temperature refrigera
More cycle time means less waste The VOC absorber is the site abatement system. It reduces the amoun
Accident prevention Philip Jenkins, Head of HSE department. New alarm system in place The plant at
2007 in numbers At the Seal Sands site, most health, safety and environment aspects relate to the u
Focus areas and targets Lundbecks management has defined a global strategy with health, safety and 