Iranian Chemical Engineering Journal

Iranian Chemical Engineering Journal

Investigating the Reactor Section of the Production Process of Tissue Plasminogen Activator Using Simulation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Sh. Mojoodi 1
M. Hayati-Ashtiani 2
1 M. Sc. in Chemical Engineering, University of Kashan
2 Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Kashan
10.22034/ijche.2024.442798.1395
Abstract
Tissue Plasminogen Activator (tPA) is a recombinant protein used to treat blood clotting disorders such as heart strokes, acute myocardial, and pulmonary blockage. The process design of drug production after laboratory culture consists of two sections: reactor and separation. This research aims to investigate the reactor (fermentor) section. The reactor section has three series reactors of different sizes in which tPA cultivation and industrial production are carried out. In this research, first, a base-case simulation of the reactor section was performed by Aspen Batch Plus software, and then a retrofit was presented to remove the bottleneck of the third reactor. 14 days and 15 hours are needed in aiming to achieve the production of 80 Kg tPA/year assuming 50 batch production per year for two completely similar parallel units. The time of each batch process is reduced to about 13 days, 4 hours and 2 minutes in the retrofit design of the process to solve this problem. Reducing the time of the production process helps to increase the annual production up to 82.16 Kg tPA/year. An increase in fixed costs, etc. is inevitable in the modified case because of adding a Heat Exchanger, Hold-up Tank, and Pump.
Keywords
Simulation
Process Design
Retrofitting
Tissue Plasminogen Activator
Subjects
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Iranian Chemical Engineering Journal
Volume 24, Issue 138
May and June 2025
Pages 97-108