Design method, manufacturing method, and liquid handling equipment

Abstract

Provided is a method for efficiently designing a liquid handling facility comprising a container for storing a liquid and pipes provided with a plurality of valves.　This method for designing a liquid handling facility which stores a liquid in a container 2a and handles the liquid includes: a step for pre-designing valve blocks which are combined so as to integrate a plurality of valves for executing the operation of a fluid and interposed in the plurality of pipes connected to the container 2a, a plurality of connecting pipe parts, and a support structure; a step for selecting at least one valve block having a required function from a valve block group including a plurality of different valve blocks having mutually differing functions; and a step for designing the plurality of pipes in which the selected valve block is interposed and which are connected to the container.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to liquid handling equipment for storing and handling liquids in containers.

Background Art

[0002] Some bioplants that produce target substances such as pharmaceuticals using cells and microorganisms, and chemical plants that produce target substances by chemical reactions, include tanks (containers) that store liquids containing raw materials, intermediate products, products, etc. of the target substances, and perform processing and storage of the liquids. A plurality of pipes equipped with opening and closing valves and flow control valves are connected to these tanks in order to perform supply operations and extraction operations of various fluids (hereinafter, equipment including a tank for storing a liquid and a plurality of pipes provided with valves is referred to as "liquid handling equipment").

[0003] The liquid handling equipment is designed to meet various required specifications set according to the processing performed in the tank, the content of incidental processing such as cleaning of the tank, the properties of the fluids handled, the volume of the tank, etc. In particular, the liquid handling equipment provided in bioplants and chemical plants has a very large number of devices constituting the equipment and a wide variety of required specifications.

[0004] Therefore, in plant construction, a method is adopted in which each liquid handling equipment is individually designed to meet each required specification, and based on this design, individual devices and pipes are combined to assemble (manufacture) the liquid handling equipment. However, individually designing liquid handling equipment with a large number of devices and different configurations for each requires a great deal of labor.

[0005] Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which a culture medium / buffer plant is provided to supply processing materials to customizable facilities on a campus for manufacturing pharmaceutical products, and a utility building is provided to provide utilities to these customizable facilities and the culture medium / buffer plant. The customizable facilities are configured to be easily modified using modular units to accommodate new manufacturing processes and production lines. However, Patent Document 1 does not contain any description of techniques for efficiently designing individual modular units. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2018 / 026577 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] This technology provides a method for efficiently designing liquid handling equipment that includes a container for holding liquid and piping equipped with multiple valves. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] This method is a method for designing liquid handling equipment that stores and handles liquids in containers, A step of designing in advance a valve block in which a plurality of valves are interposed in a plurality of pipes connected to the container and perform fluid operations, such as supplying or withdrawing fluid from the container, via these plurality of pipes; a plurality of connecting pipe sections provided before and after these plurality of valves and connected to the pipes; and a support structure that supports these plurality of valves and plurality of connecting pipe sections are assembled to form an integrated unit. Functions with each other Configured according to From a group of valve blocks including multiple valve blocks with different properties, the necessary functions for realizing the intended use of the container are selected. and multiple, each with a different configuration. The process of selecting the valve block, The selected multiple The valve block each, The process is characterized by including the step of designing the plurality of pipes that are interposed and connected to the container.

[0009] The aforementioned liquid handling equipment design method may have the following features. (a) The liquid handling equipment is installed in a bioplant or chemical plant, and the use is batch processing or storage of the liquid. (b) When the liquid handling equipment is installed in a bioplant, the valve block group includes: an upper manifold valve block for performing the fluid operation for multiple types of fluids from the upper side of the container; a lower manifold valve block for performing the fluid operation for multiple types of fluids from the lower side of the container; a contents supply valve block for supplying the contents of the liquid to the container; an acid gas supply valve block for supplying an acidic gas to adjust the acidity of the liquid to the container; a sterilization operation valve block for performing the fluid operation including the supply of steam for in-situ sterilization of the container; a vent filter valve block for performing the fluid operation on the container via the vent filter if the container is provided with a vent filter; and a temperature control jacket if the container is provided with a temperature control jacket to The system includes one or more valve blocks, including a valve block for a temperature-controlled jacket for performing fluid operations, and a drain valve block for discharging waste liquid, which is the fluid extracted from the liquid handling equipment, to an external waste liquid treatment facility. (c) When the fluid operation involves a time-dependent switching of the open / closed state or degree of opening of the valve, and the liquid handling equipment is provided with a control panel that outputs control signals to control the open / closed state or degree of opening of the plurality of valves included in the valve block, the process includes presetting the control signals to be output in accordance with the switching in a storage unit provided in the control panel. In this case, the process of presetting the control signals includes: For each of the plurality of valve blocks selected in the above selection step, For each of the aforementioned switching operations, multiple sets of valve patterns, which are sets of control information that set the open / closed state or degree of opening for each of the multiple valves, and identification information that identifies these multiple sets of valve patterns from one another are associated and set on a per-valve-block basis. Furthermore, the method for manufacturing the liquid handling equipment is characterized by including a step of manufacturing the liquid handling equipment designed based on each of the design methods described above.

[0010] Furthermore, liquid handling equipment that stores and handles liquids in containers, Multiple valves interposed in multiple pipes connected to the container, which perform fluid supply or withdrawal operations related to the container via these multiple pipes, and which involve switching between open / closed states or degrees of opening over time; multiple connecting pipe sections provided before and after these multiple valves and connected to the pipes; and a support structure that supports these multiple valves and multiple connecting pipe sections are combined together as an integral unit, and the necessary functions to realize the intended use of the container are provided. Corresponding to each other with different configurations has multiple The valve block and The above-mentioned at least one valve block is interposed, and the plurality of pipes connected to the container are provided. The valve block comprises a control panel provided for outputting control signals to control the open / closed state or degree of opening of the plurality of valves included in the valve block, and having a storage unit in which the control signals output in accordance with the switching are pre-set. The storage unit of the control panel contains: For each of the multiple valve blocks,For each of the above-described switches, a plurality of sets of valve patterns, which are sets of control information for setting the open / closed state or the opening degree for each of the plurality of valves, are associated with identification information for identifying these plurality of sets of valve patterns, and are set in units of the valve blocks. before When implementing the fluid operation, the control panel selects, over time, the valve pattern corresponding to the identification information in order to perform the switching, Of the multiple valve blocks and may be configured to output control information based on the selected valve pattern to the valve block for which the switching is performed.

Advantages of the Invention

[0011] According to the present technology, a plurality of types of valve blocks are provided, which are provided in liquid handling equipment, are pre-designed such that valves and connection pipe parts provided in a plurality of pipes connected to a container are integrated with a support structure. As a result, the design process of the liquid handling equipment can be simplified, and the period required for the design can be shortened.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] [Figure 1] It is a schematic diagram of a production process of a target substance in a bioplant. [Figure 2] It is a configuration example of a medium preparation facility. [Figure 3] It is a configuration example of a buffer preparation facility. [Figure 4] It is a configuration example of a medium storage facility. [Figure 5] It is a configuration example of a buffer storage facility. [[ID=3,3]] [Figure 6] It is a configuration example of an upper-side manifold valve block provided in a medium preparation facility. [Figure 7] It is a configuration example of an upper-side manifold valve block provided in a buffer preparation facility. [Figure 8] It is a configuration example of an upper-side manifold valve block provided in a medium storage facility or a buffer storage facility. [Figure 9]This is a configuration example of a valve block for a vent filter provided commonly for each device. [Figure 10] This is an example of setting a valve pattern. [Figure 11] This is an example of setting a unit sequence for a plurality of valve blocks. [Figure 12] There is an example of setting a plurality of unit sequences that can be switched over time. [Figure 13] This is a block diagram showing the input / output relationship of control signals between a control panel and each valve block. [Figure 14] This is an explanatory diagram showing the implementation procedures of a design method and a manufacturing method for liquid handling equipment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an outline of a production process of a target substance in a bioplant according to an embodiment. As the target substance, a biopharmaceutical can be exemplified. In a bioplant for producing a target substance, preparation of a medium for culturing production cells, filtration of impurities (medium preparation step 101), and storage of the prepared medium in a hold tank (medium storage step 102) are performed. In parallel, adjustment of a buffer used when purifying a culture solution containing the target substance, filtration of impurities (buffer preparation step 103), and storage of the prepared buffer in a hold tank (buffer storage step 104) are performed.

[0014] Next, the medium stored in the hold tank is transferred to a culture tank, production cells are added to the medium, and culturing is carried out (culturing step 105). Thereafter, various purification treatments such as centrifugation, chromatography, and ultrafiltration are carried out (purification step 106) to obtain the target substance. At this time, the buffer is used during buffer exchange included in the purification step 106.

[0015] In each of the above-mentioned steps 101 to 106, liquids such as culture media, buffers, and nutrient solutions are handled. For this reason, bioplants are equipped with multiple types of liquid handling equipment. Liquid handling equipment consists of multiple pipes connected to tanks that contain liquids, each equipped with valves for supplying / withdrawing various fluids (fluid manipulation).

[0016] As previously mentioned, these liquid handling facilities have different specifications depending on the type and properties of the fluids they handle, as well as the type of processing and cleaning performed within the tanks (hereinafter collectively referred to as "processing"), and the equipment installed in each facility also differs. For this reason, each liquid handling facility was individually designed as, so to speak, a custom-made piece of equipment, and manufactured based on that design.

[0017] Thus, when comparing liquid handling equipment as a whole, their configurations differ from one another. On the other hand, the inventors of this invention noticed that, when focusing on the equipment included in each liquid handling facility, or on equipment blocks where multiple pieces of equipment are arranged together, even different liquid handling facilities may have almost the same configuration.

[0018] In particular, piping connected to tanks, which is equipped with various valves, often has a common configuration if the processing content is the same. Therefore, in this embodiment, the concept of a valve block is adopted, in which multiple valves for performing fluid supply / extraction operations are grouped together according to their function. By designing these valve blocks in advance, the design process for liquid handling equipment can be simplified and the time required for design can be reduced.

[0019] The valve block is configured by combining multiple valves, multiple connecting pipes provided before and after these valves and connected to the piping of the main body of the liquid handling equipment, and a support structure that supports these multiple valves and multiple connecting pipes, so that they form a single unit. The following describes an example configuration of a valve block and a liquid intake system equipped therewith, with reference to Figures 2-9.

[0020] In the bioplant where each process described using Figure 1 is carried out, the culture medium preparation equipment 1a, which carries out the culture medium preparation process 101, and the buffer preparation equipment 1c, which carries out the buffer preparation process 103, include parts of their piping configuration that are common to each other. Therefore, Figures 2 and 3 schematically show an example in which the culture medium preparation equipment 1a and the buffer preparation equipment 1c are configured using common valve blocks A1, B1, C1, E, F, G1, and H1.

[0021] Furthermore, the culture medium storage facility 1b, which carries out the culture medium storage process 102 described in Figure 1, and the buffer storage facility 1d, which carries out the buffer storage process 104, share some common piping configurations. Therefore, Figures 4 and 5 schematically show examples in which the culture medium storage facility 1b and the buffer storage facility 1d are configured using common valve blocks B2, C2, E, F, G2, and H2.

[0022] The culture medium preparation equipment 1a shown in Figure 2 includes a preparation tank 2a used for batch-process preparation of culture media. The preparation tank 2a is equipped with a stirring blade 31a, a temperature control jacket 21a, a vent filter 22, and a bubbler 24. The stirring blade 31a is positioned at the bottom of the preparation tank 2a and connected via the shaft 32 to the motor 33a located at the top of the preparation tank 2a, and plays the role of stirring the liquid in the preparation tank 2a. The temperature control jacket 21a is provided to cover the side wall of the preparation tank 2a and regulates the temperature inside the preparation tank 2a by flowing steam or cold water through it. The vent filter 22 is provided on the upper side of the preparation tank 2a and filters the gas flowing into the preparation tank 2a to sterilize and remove dust. The bubbler 24 supplies CO2 gas for pH adjustment to the culture medium being prepared in the preparation tank 2a.

[0023] In the preparation tank 2a having the above configuration, the culture medium is prepared by supplying room-temperature distilled water to the pre-prepared culture medium raw materials, stirring while controlling the temperature, and adjusting the pH by supplying carbon dioxide. After the prepared culture medium is discharged from the preparation tank 2a, it is filtered to remove impurities by passing through a filter unit (not shown) and then transferred to the hold tank 2b of the culture medium storage facility 1b.

[0024] Furthermore, when cleaning and sterilizing (incidental processing) equipment including the preparation tank 2a and piping, cleaning water or high-temperature steam is supplied to each piece of equipment. The steam drain generated from the condensation of the cleaning water and steam after cleaning is then discharged to the outside as wastewater. In addition, the gas discharged from the preparation tank 2a via the vent filter 22, as well as the steam drain condensed in the temperature control jacket 21a, are also discharged to the outside.

[0025] To carry out the processes described above, numerous pipes are connected to the preparation tank 2a. In addition, multiple valves, such as on-off valves and flow control valves, are provided on these pipes to supply each fluid to the preparation tank 2a and to withdraw each fluid from the preparation tank 2a. As previously described, the culture medium preparation equipment 1a in this example is configured by interposing multiple types of valve blocks A1, B1, C1, D, E, F, G1, and H1, each with a different function, to the piping connected to the preparation tank 2a.

[0026] The culture medium preparation equipment 1a shown in Figure 2 includes a water supply valve block A1 (contents supply valve block) for supplying the water that is the contents of the preparation tank 2a, an upper manifold valve block B1 which constitutes a manifold for supplying fluid from the upper side of the preparation tank 2a, a SIP (Sterilize-In-Place) valve block C1 (sterilization operation valve block) for supplying steam for in-place sterilization, a CO2 supply valve block D for supplying CO2 gas for pH adjustment, a vent filter valve block E for supplying and discharging fluid via the vent filter 22, a drain valve block F for discharging wastewater to the outside, a lower manifold valve block G1 which constitutes a manifold for extracting fluid from the lower side of the preparation tank 2a, and a temperature control jacket valve block H1.

[0027] As previously described, each valve block A1, B1, C1, D, E, F, G1, and H1 is configured to have multiple valves and connecting piping sections on a common support structure. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the upper manifold valve block B installed in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a. Valves V101 to V107 are connected to each other via connecting piping sections 42, which are made up of piping members, and are supported by a frame 41a. These valves V101 to V107 and the connecting piping sections 42 constitute a manifold that connects multiple pipes to the piping that supplies and extracts fluid from the upper side of the preparation tank 2a.

[0028] For illustrative purposes, in Figures 6 and 7, the frame 41a is schematically represented by a rectangular frame. However, in actual construction, a frame structure can be constructed using metal columnar members, and valves V101 to V107 and connecting piping 42 are arranged within this frame structure. This is also true for block valves B1, B2, and F shown in Figures 7 to 9, which will be described later.

[0029] Figure 9 schematically shows an example of the configuration of a valve block E for a vent filter provided in the preparation tank 2a. In the valve block E for the vent filter, valves V301 to V304 and the connecting piping section 42 are configured to allow operations such as supplying steam or air through the top of the vent filter 22, discharging gas from the preparation tank 2a through the top, and extracting liquid from the bottom of the vent filter 22.

[0030] The upper manifold valve block B1, the vent filter valve block E, and the other valve blocks A1, C1, D, F, G1, and H1, as shown in Figures 6 and 9, are connected to each other via piping in the main body of the culture medium preparation equipment 1a, or to the preparation tank 2a. Thus, the culture medium preparation equipment 1a in this example is configured to connect the preparation tank 2a and the valve blocks A1, B1, C1, D, E, F, G1, and H1 via piping.

[0031] Furthermore, the buffer preparation equipment 1c shown in Figure 3 includes a preparation tank 2a in which buffer preparation is carried out in a batch process. The preparation tank 2a is equipped with a stirring blade 31a, a temperature control jacket 21a, and a vent filter 22, which is the same configuration as the culture medium preparation equipment 1a described using Figure 2. On the other hand, the preparation tank 2a of the buffer preparation equipment 1c does not have a bubbler 24 for supplying CO2 gas, and a hopper 23 for introducing buffer raw materials is provided on its upper side, which is different in configuration from the culture medium preparation equipment 1a described above.

[0032] Furthermore, the buffer preparation equipment 1c is equipped with valve blocks A1, B1, C1, E, F, G1, and H1, which are the same as those in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a. On the other hand, the buffer preparation equipment 1c in Figure 3 differs from the culture medium preparation equipment 1a in that it does not have a CO2 supply valve block D related to the supply of CO2 gas.

[0033] Furthermore, because the CO2 supply valve block D is not provided, the piping that was provided to connect the CO2 supply valve block D and the upper manifold valve block B1 in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a shown in Figure 2 is not provided in this buffer preparation equipment 1c. In light of these differences, the upper manifold valve block B1 provided in the buffer preparation equipment 1c may omit the installation of the connecting piping section 42 and valve V104 connected to the CO2 supply valve block D (Figure 7).

[0034] Next, the configuration of the culture medium storage facility 1b shown in Figure 4 will be described. The culture medium storage facility 1b includes a hold tank 2b used to receive the culture medium prepared in the culture medium preparation facility 1a shown in Figure 2 and store it under predetermined temperature conditions. The hold tank 2b is equipped with an agitator 31b, a cooling jacket 21b, and a vent filter 22.

[0035] The stirring blade 31b is positioned at the bottom of the hold tank 2b and is driven by a motor 33b located on the underside of the hold tank 2b, playing the role of stirring the liquid inside the hold tank 2b. The temperature control jacket 21a is provided to cover the side wall of the hold tank 2b, and the temperature inside the hold tank 2b is controlled by flowing brine, which is a refrigerant, through it. The configuration and function of the vent filter 22 are the same as those provided in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a in Figure 2. In addition, the hold tank 2b is not equipped with a bubbler 24 for supplying CO2 gas.

[0036] The culture medium storage facility 1b shown in Figure 4 is provided for storing culture media, and since it handles liquids differently from the culture medium preparation facility 1a which prepares the culture media, there are few common parts in the piping configuration. On the other hand, as mentioned above, if a vent filter 22 with a configuration common to the culture medium preparation facility 1a is provided, the piping configuration related to the vent filter 22 can be made common.

[0037] Taking these differences in piping configuration into account, the culture medium storage facility 1b is equipped with an upper manifold valve block B2, a SIP valve block C2, a lower manifold valve block G2, and a cooling jacket valve block H2, which have different configurations from the culture medium preparation facility 1a. For example, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the upper manifold valve block B installed in the culture medium storage facility 1b. Even though the function of the valve block is the same, namely to form a manifold for supplying fluid from the upper side of tanks 2a and 2b, the configuration is different from the upper manifold valve block B on the culture medium preparation facility 1a side shown in Figure 6.

[0038] On the other hand, in the culture medium storage facility 1b shown in Figure 4, the vent filter valve block E and drain valve block F are the same configuration as those in the culture medium preparation facility 1a. Also, corresponding to the fact that the hold tank 2b does not have a bubbler 24, the culture medium storage facility 1b does not have a CO2 supply valve block D.

[0039] Furthermore, the buffer storage facility 1d shown in Figure 5 is identical to the culture medium storage facility 1b described above in terms of how the liquid is handled, except that the liquid stored is a buffer. Therefore, the configuration of the hold tank 2b and its auxiliary equipment (such as the stirring blade 31b, cooling jacket 21b, and vent filter 22), as well as the valve blocks B2, C2, E, F, G2, and H2 connected to the hold tank 2b, are the same as those of the culture medium storage equipment 1b shown in Figure 4.

[0040] As confirmed above with reference to Figures 2-9, when comparing the entire liquid handling equipment installed in a bioplant (culture medium preparation equipment 1a, culture medium storage equipment 1b, buffer preparation equipment 1c, buffer storage equipment 1d), the required specifications may differ depending on the type and properties of the fluids handled and the handling content (liquid preparation, storage, etc.). On the other hand, by focusing on the piping configuration of the piping connected to tanks 2a and 2b and grouping multiple valves for performing fluid supply / extraction operations into valve blocks that group them by function, it is possible to standardize valve blocks even between different liquid handling equipment. This is not limited to the liquid handling equipment 1a to 1d exemplified in Figures 2 to 5, but also applies to the liquid handling equipment provided in the culture process 105 and purification process 106 shown in Figure 1.

[0041] When designing liquid handling equipment using the valve blocks described above, for example, for liquid handling equipment commonly installed in bioplants, the valve blocks are designed according to the type of liquid to be handled and the function of each valve block. Then, the valve blocks to be installed in each liquid handling equipment are selected from a group of valve blocks that includes multiple pre-designed valve blocks, and the piping connecting the selected valve blocks to tanks 2a and 2b is designed to complete the design of the liquid handling equipment.

[0042] The valve blocks included in the above-mentioned group of valve blocks are: upper manifold valve blocks (B1, B2) for performing fluid operations (supply / extraction operations) for multiple types of fluids from the upper side of the tank; lower manifold valve blocks (G1, G2) for performing fluid operations for multiple types of fluids from the lower side of the tank; contents supply valve blocks for supplying liquid contents to the tank (e.g., valve block A1 for brewing water); acid gas supply valve blocks for supplying acidic gas to adjust the acidity of the liquid to the tank (e.g., CO2 supply valve block D); sterilization operation valve blocks for performing fluid operations including the supply of steam for in-situ sterilization of the tank (e.g., valve blocks C1, C2 for SIP); vent filter valve block (E) for performing fluid operations on the tank via the vent filter 22 when the tank is equipped with a vent filter 22; and temperature control jacket (temperature control jacket 21a, cooling jacket 21b) when the tank is equipped with a temperature control jacket to An example of a case where the system includes one or more valve blocks, such as a valve block for a temperature-controlled jacket to perform fluid operation (e.g., a valve block H1 for a temperature-controlled jacket, a valve block H2 for a cooling jacket), and a drain valve block (F) for discharging waste liquid, which is the fluid extracted from the liquid handling equipment, to an external waste liquid treatment facility. The valve blocks that are pre-designed for inclusion in the valve block group are not limited to the examples described above. A valve block group may also be configured to include valve blocks with other functions.

[0043] Next, we will explain the control for performing liquid supply / extraction operations in liquid handling equipment equipped with a valve block. In batch processing and storage of liquids, sequence control is implemented to switch the open / closed state and opening degree of valves in each valve block over time. In this case, because the valve blocks in the liquid handling equipment are pre-designed, the content of the control for switching the valves can be determined in advance.

[0044] Therefore, in the liquid handling equipment of this example, control information is set to control the open / closed state or degree of opening of these valves for each valve switching operation. The contents of the control information will be explained below with reference to Figures 10-12. Figures 10-12 will be explained using the culture medium preparation equipment 1a and culture medium storage equipment 1b, which were explained using Figures 2 and 3, as examples.

[0045] Figure 10(a) shows the open / closed states (open state: O, closed state: S) of valves V101 to V107 related to the operation of supplying room-temperature distilled water to the preparation tank 2a using the upper manifold valve block B1 described above, which is installed in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a or the culture medium storage equipment 1b. The open / closed states shown in Figure 10(a) can be represented as a set of control information that associates the identification information (V101~V102) of each valve with information indicating the open / closed state (O / S) and information indicating the degree of opening (value of the degree of opening ratio). Figure 10(b) shows an example of the configuration of the set of control information for setting the open / closed states shown in Figure 10(a). Identification information "VP1-B1" is associated with this set of control information. Hereinafter, the set of control information for a valve and the identification information associated with it will be referred to as a valve pattern.

[0046] Figure 11 shows an example of setting a unit sequence that groups together the valve patterns for valve blocks A1, B1, C1, D, E, F, G1, and H1, which are installed in the culture medium preparation equipment 1a and the culture medium storage equipment 1b. Each valve pattern, which is labeled with identification information such as "VP1-A1" and "VP1-C1", has a set of control information for each valve set based on the same concept as the example explained using Figures 10(a) and (b). As previously mentioned, the culture medium storage equipment 1b shown in Figure 3 does not have a CO2 supply valve block D, therefore, the unit sequence of the culture medium storage equipment 1b does not include a valve pattern related to the CO2 supply valve block D.

[0047] Figure 12 shows an example of a configuration of multiple unit sequences that can be switched over time. For example, when the open / closed state and opening degree of valves in each valve block are changed in the order of "unit sequence 1 → 2 → 3", valve patterns that do not change are marked with a "-". In this way, each unit sequence is set each time a valve is switched.

[0048] Because the valves included in each valve block are predetermined, the valve patterns necessary to perform the desired fluid operation (supply / extraction) can be prepared in advance. Then, as shown in Figure 12, by selecting the required valve patterns and arranging multiple unit sequences so that control signals are output to each valve in chronological order, it becomes possible to set up sequence control.

[0049] Figure 13 shows the input / output relationship of control signals between the control panel 5 installed in the liquid handling equipment and each valve block (in the case of the culture medium preparation equipment 1a, valve blocks A1, B1, C1, D, E, F, G1, H1). The control panel 5 is equipped with a storage unit 51, which has multiple unit sequences and output parameters indicating the execution order and output timing of these unit sequences pre-set. Based on this information, the control panel 5 outputs control information to the valves installed in each valve block.

[0050] Based on the concepts described above, we will now explain the method for designing and manufacturing liquid handling equipment equipped with multiple valve blocks, referring to Figure 14. First, as shown in Figure 14(a), several types of valve blocks with different functions to be installed in the liquid handling equipment of the bioplant are designed (P11: valve block design process). Next, the valve patterns and their identification information related to the operations performed by the designed valve blocks are set (P12).

[0051] The selection of valves to be included in each valve block, and the connection relationships of the connecting piping section 42, can be determined by extracting common piping configurations from past design and manufacturing experience of liquid intake equipment in bioplants. Alternatively, the configuration of the valve blocks required for the liquid intake equipment may be designed from scratch. Design data for multiple types of valve blocks (valve block groups) and control-related information are stored, for example, in a computer system database.

[0052] Next, in the stage of actually designing the liquid handling equipment, as shown in Figure 14(b), a valve block with the necessary functions to realize the tank's purpose is selected according to the type of fluid to be handled and the handling procedures of the liquid handling equipment being designed (P21: Step of selecting valve blocks). After that, the piping to which each valve block is interposed and connected to the tank is designed (P22: Step of designing piping).

[0053] Following the above procedure, the required type of liquid handling equipment is designed. Based on this design, the equipment and piping are assembled and the liquid handling equipment is manufactured (P23: Process for manufacturing liquid handling equipment). Furthermore, for the control panel 5 installed in the liquid handling equipment, a unit sequence and output parameters are set for each valve block each time a valve is switched, and stored in the memory unit 51 (P24: process of setting control signals).

[0054] According to the embodiment described above, the liquid handling equipment is provided with multiple types of valve blocks that are pre-designed so that the valves and connecting pipe sections 42 interposed in multiple pipes connected to the tank are integrated with the frame 41a to 41c. As a result, the design process for the liquid handling equipment can be simplified and the time required for design can be shortened. However, it is not a mandatory requirement that all valves installed in liquid handling equipment be included in any valve block. For example, it is not excluded to design and manufacture piping and valves that constitute liquid supply lines, discharge lines, etc., which are unique to a particular liquid handling equipment and are not included in a pre-designed valve block, based on their individual specifications.

[0055] Figures 1-14 show examples of the use of valve blocks in the design and manufacture of liquid handling equipment installed in bioplants. However, this technology is not limited to bioplants. It can also be applied to chemical plants that utilize liquid handling facilities, such as tanks for batch processing and storage of liquids, to carry out chemical reactions and produce target substances. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] A1, B1, B2, C1, C2, D~F, G1, G2, H1, H2 valve block 1a Culture medium preparation equipment 1b Culture medium storage equipment 1c Buffer preparation equipment 1d Buffer storage equipment 2a Preparation tank 2b Hold Tank 5. Control Panel 51 Storage section

Claims

1. A method for designing liquid handling equipment that stores and handles liquids in containers, A step of designing in advance multiple valve blocks, each having a different number of valves and configuration of the connecting pipes, such that the valves are integrated with a plurality of valves interposed in a plurality of pipes connected to the container, for performing fluid operations such as supplying or withdrawing fluid from the container via these pipes, a plurality of connecting pipe sections provided before and after these valves and connected to the pipes, and a support structure that supports the plurality of valves and the plurality of connecting pipe sections. A step of selecting from a group of valve blocks, each having a different configuration from the others, that each valve block has a different configuration and is necessary to realize the overall purpose of the container, and that each valve block has a different configuration from the others. A method for designing liquid handling equipment, comprising the step of designing the plurality of pipes connected to the container, in which each of the selected plurality of valve blocks is interposed.

2. The aforementioned liquid handling equipment is to be installed in a bioplant or chemical plant, The method for designing liquid handling equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforementioned use is batch processing or storage of the liquid.

3. The method for designing liquid handling equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that when the liquid handling equipment is installed in a bioplant, the valve block group includes one or more valve blocks from which the group includes: an upper manifold valve block for performing the fluid operation on a plurality of fluids from the upper side of the container; a lower manifold valve block for performing the fluid operation on a plurality of fluids from the lower side of the container; a contents supply valve block for supplying the contents of the liquid to the container; an acid gas supply valve block for supplying an acidic gas to adjust the acidity of the liquid to the container; a sterilization operation valve block for performing the fluid operation including the supply of steam for in-situ sterilization of the container; a vent filter valve block for performing the fluid operation on the container via the vent filter if the container is provided with a vent filter; a temperature control jacket valve block for performing the fluid operation on the temperature control jacket if the container is provided with a temperature control jacket; and a drain valve block for discharging waste liquid, which is the fluid of the liquid extracted from the liquid handling equipment, to an external waste liquid treatment facility.

4. The liquid handling equipment design method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fluid operation involves a time-dependent switching of the open / closed state or degree of opening of the valve, and the liquid handling equipment is provided with a control panel that outputs control signals to control the open / closed state or degree of opening of the plurality of valves included in the valve block, the method includes the step of presetting the control signals to be output in accordance with the switching in a storage unit provided in the control panel.

5. The liquid handling equipment design method according to claim 4, characterized in that, in the step of presetting the control signals, for each of the plurality of valve blocks selected in the selection step, a plurality of sets of valve patterns, which are sets of control information that set the open / closed state or opening degree for each of the plurality of valves, and identification information that identifies these plurality of valve patterns from each other are associated and set on a per-valve-block basis.

6. A method for manufacturing liquid handling equipment, characterized by including a step of manufacturing the liquid handling equipment designed based on the design method described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. Liquid handling equipment that stores and handles liquids in containers, Multiple valves interposed in multiple pipes connected to the container, which perform fluid supply or withdrawal operations related to the container via these multiple pipes, and which involve switching between open / closed states or degrees of opening over time; multiple connecting pipe sections provided before and after these multiple valves and connected to the pipes; and a support structure that supports these multiple valves and multiple connecting pipe sections, are combined as an integral unit, and each of the multiple valve blocks has a different number of valves and a different configuration of the routing of the connecting pipe sections, so as to have separate functions necessary to realize the overall use of the container. The plurality of valve blocks are interposed, and the plurality of pipes are connected to the container, The valve block includes a control panel provided for outputting control signals to control the open / closed state or degree of opening of the plurality of valves, and having a storage unit in which the control signals output in accordance with the switching are pre-set, Liquid handling equipment characterized in that, for each of the multiple valve blocks, the storage unit of the control panel is configured to associate multiple sets of valve patterns, which are sets of control information that set the open / closed state or opening degree for each of the multiple valves for each of the multiple valves, with identification information that identifies these multiple sets of valve patterns from one another, and to set them on a per-valve-block basis.

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