Model predictive control during the primary drying stage of lyophilisation

During the primary drying stage of pharmaceutical solutions in vial, the sublimation front is the boundary between the dried and frozen layers that moves from the top of the vial to its bottom. While only few on-line measures are available, it is an important variable to control. This paper deals with the on-line partial differential equation model-based predictive control of the sublimation front position, assuming two strategies based on various availability of measurement used in the feedback loop. Through the MPC@CB control software, the robustness of the controller with respect to the main model parameter uncertainty is shown. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.