A stochastic model for performance analysis of pharmaceutical high purity water systems

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The operating performance of high purity water systems such as pharmaceutical Deionized and Water for Injection (DI/WFI) distribution systems can be difficult to analyse due to the highly variable demand that is drawn from these systems; a situation compounded by schedule and demand volume uncertainties. This work presents a stochastic model to simulate volume and schedule uncertainties of industrial size DI/WFI systems. The model utilises discrete-event simulation combined with the Monte Carlo method to calculate the demand profile of the distribution system and a continuous simulation to compute the variation of the level in the storage tank. It is shown that the model may be used to predict if an existing DI/WFI systems is capable of delivering water for a new process, for which historical data is lacking. The model is programmed in Excel 2003 and is available for download [1] as open software.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)26-38
Number of pages13
JournalSimulation Modelling Practice and Theory
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2012

Keywords

  • Capacity assessment
  • Discrete-event simulation
  • Stochastic modelling
  • Water for Injection
  • WFI

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