At this site technical articles published at the YOKOGAWA technical report are introduced.
Technical Report
Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Agrochemical Production in an Era of Great Change
- Shinichiro Fuse*1
*1Professor, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya University
Necessity of Global IT Governance for DX Ready
- Yukihiro Funyu*1
*1 Senior Vice President (CIO), Head of Digital Strategy Headquarters, and Head of DX-Platform Center, Digital Solutions Headquarters
Yokogawa Electric Corporation began digital transformation (DX) in earnest in 2018. Organizational transformation, system integration, and data integration are essential activities for realizing the DX of a company. Under our previous medium-term plan, Transformation 2020 (FY18-FY20), we aimed to achieve this global system integration and data integration and focused on the “D” in “DX”—digitalization. In the global manufacturing sector, including our company, it is normal for business processes and systems to be divided into silos for each business unit and region, and siloed data hinders digitalization. As a result, DX has not progressed. Establishing global IT governance is a prerequisite for carrying out the necessary global system integration and data integration. In this article, we explain why it is important to establish global IT governance and we present an example of DX practice by introducing our approach to global IT governance.
Development of a Continuous-Flow Manufacturing Device for Peptide Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
- Daisuke Kubo*1
- Yuma Otake*1
- Kyohei Adachi*1
- Yusuke Hattori*1
- Jun-ichi Ogawa*1
*1 Life Research & Development Department, Innovation Center, Marketing Headquarters
In recent years, a trend in the pharmaceutical industry has been to convert batch manufacturing to continuous manufacturing (CM). CM has various benefits, including ease of adjusting the manufactured amount according to demand and supply, lower energy requirements, no need for large-scale equipment, and space saving. Up to now, batch manufacturing has been the mainstream in the pharmaceutical industry, but with the ICH guideline on CM (ICH Q13) being adopted in 2022, CM will increasingly be used in pharmaceutical manufacturing in the near future. This report introduces the development of a continuous-flow manufacturing device for peptide active pharmaceutical ingredients. Not only synthetic processes but also work-up processes such as separation were considered, and a prototype machine was built and used to synthesize a 10-residue peptide as a proof of concept.
Effect of Radio Waves from 5G Mobile Phones on System Equipment
- Mamoru Tanba*1
- Daisuke Nomura*2
- Taisuke Abe*1
- Takahito Muroki*1
- Yuuichi Asano*2
- Masahiko Suzuki*1
- Naoto Takayanagi*2
*1 Systems Hardware R&D Department, Systems Business Division Development Center, Digital Solutions Headquarters
*2 Advanced Hardware R&D Department, Systems Business Division Development Center, Digital Solutions Headquarters
We assume that service personnel will use mobile phones/smartphones in proximity to system equipment during product maintenance at sites where control and safety systems such as Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP and ProSafe-RS are in operation. Together with NTT Communications Corporation and NTT DOCOMO, Inc., we investigated the effects of electromagnetic interference caused by radio waves emitted from wireless communication devices on our system equipment. The target communication system was the 5G mobile communication system for recent smartphones. The results showed no abnormalities in our system equipment at the frequencies and electric field strengths assumed for 5G.
High-Precision Online Infrared Sensor WG51S2
- Kumiko Horikoshi*1
- Tomoya Taguchi*1
- Rena Sakai*1
- Kazufumi Nishida*1
*1 Engineering Department, P&W Solution Division, Yokogawa Products Headquarters
In recent years, there has been growing demand for films as functional materials that are utilized across a wide range of fields from packaging to electronic devices. The trend toward thinner films reflect the need for portioned food packaging and lightweight, slim electronics. By measuring the thickness of films online during the manufacturing process, advanced quality control of film thickness becomes possible. The infrared sensor WG51S2, part of the online thickness gauge WEBFREX NV, allows for high-precision thickness measurement during the film manufacturing process. With the adoption of detectors tailored to the trend toward thinner films, this enhancement enables highly sensitive thin film measurements, strengthens the functionality and stability of the infrared sensor, and improves quality control capabilities.
- Satoshi Funakoshi*1
- Souhei Kondou*1
- Shunsuke Ebisumoto*1
- Shinji Kanno*1
- Shinnosuke Yoshida*2
- Toshihiko Kishi*1
*1 Flowmeter Department, Development Division, Yokogawa Products Headquarters
*2 Flowmeter Planning Department, Yokogawa Products Headquarters
Yokogawa has developed the Vortex Flowmeter VY Series. Under the Total Insight concept, Yokogawa provides comprehensive support throughout the lifecycle of its products. The transmitters and enhanced diagnostic functions of the VY Series have evolved to support stable and safe plant operation and to respond to the digital transformation of entire plants that is expected in the future. This paper describes the core technologies implemented in the Vortex Flowmeter VY Series.
Sushi Sensor Wireless Steam Trap Monitoring Device for Energy Loss Monitoring
- Masayuki Sakata*1
- Takayuki Suzuki*2
- Tomomi Shimamura*1
*1 CX Strategy Department, Control Center, Yokogawa Products Headquarters
*2 CX Development Department, Control Center, Yokogawa Products Headquarters
Steam traps are generally installed on the piping of steam systems to drain condensate. Traditionally, steam trap failures have been detected by the senses of hearing and touch during operator rounds. However, due to decreases in the working population, delays in repairing and replacing failed steam traps sometimes result in energy loss and reduced production efficiency. Therefore, Yokogawa has developed the Wireless Steam Trap Monitoring Device in collaboration with a partner vendor known for their expertise in steam trap technology. The device monitors steam traps to detect equipment failures, thus achieving monitoring of energy loss as a result. This paper introduces a new design approach of the Sushi Sensor that realizes energy monitoring and conservation with the developed device.
- Jun-ichi Ogawa*1
- Ryosuke Nakamura*2
*1 Life Research & Development Department, Innovation Center, Marketing Headquarters
*2 Design Department, Innovation Center, Marketing Headquarter
In a flow reactor, the reaction proceeds as the reaction solution flows through the channel. Therefore, in a steady state, an observation point in the flow channel is always the reaction point where the same reaction time has elapsed. Thus, by statically observing the reacting solution from multiple different points in the flow channel, we can measure the dynamics associated with the reaction. Taking advantage of this feature, we have developed a soft sensor, which employs a physical model of the temperature distribution in a flow channel during a reaction based on a thermal fluid analysis formula. In this paper, we present examples of the Gibbs energy of activation (ΔG‡) and enthalpy of reaction (ΔH), which are simultaneously measured by the soft sensor, and introduce applications to high-throughput reaction analysis and materials informatics by expanding in-house data.
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