Engineering CSL Behring AlbuRx Facility

Unique heating and ventilation solutions for plasma-based medicine production plant

Location

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Client

CSL Behring

Project Status

Completed in 2017

Architect

A5 Architects

AlbuRx is a plasma-derived therapy containing albumin – a vital protein that helps blood to retain fluids and prevents them leaking into other tissues.

WSP’s work at CSL Behring’s new AlbuRx production facility in Melbourne, Australia, included designing bespoke solutions for the process chilled water and cooling water plant, plant steam systems and clean-room air handling. These all needed to be integrated with the pharmaceutical process systems.

“Like much of our work for CSL Behring, many of these designs are unique,” says Jason Pleaner, WSP technical director. “We often find ourselves going back to the text books and designing the plant from fundamentals. Off-the-shelf solutions are not normally going to be appropriate for a company with such specialized requirements.”

Among the designs created by WSP at the AlbuRx facility is a customized heat recovery system. “The clean-rooms require 100% of the air to be brought in from outside, filtered, and then filtered again before expulsion. For safety and hygiene reasons, it is entirely single-path air handling with no recirculation at all. Our bespoke heat recovery system will reduce the client’s energy costs for years to come.”

Thinking about what our client might need in the years to come is always important. So we leave space for extra plant, and ensure that piping is of a size and in a location to be able to handle extra requirements that might become necessary.

Jason Pleaner Technical Director, WSP in Australia

The boiler house, which supplies the AlbuRx facility with steam, was also upgraded, and the first three-quarters of a site-wide compressed-air ring main was installed. This not only supplies the AlbuRx site now, but is extendable to supply other facilities in the future.

“Thinking about what our client might need in the years to come is always important,” says Pleaner. “So we leave space for extra plant, and ensure that piping is of a size and in a location to be able to handle extra requirements that might become necessary. For example, we have left space and pipes to facilitate the construction of an extra cooling tower should one be needed. Future-proofing is key.”