Process analytical technology (PAT) has been defined by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a mechanism to design, analyze, and control pharmaceutical manufacturing processes through the measurement of Critical Process Parameters (CPP) which affect Critical Quality Attributes (CQA). NIR Spectroscopy is the primary analytical tool for PAT applications.
However, PAT and more generally Process Spectroscopy can be applied to other industry segments. Polymer product is another industry that can greatly benefit from non-destructive real-time process monitoring. By monitoring the reaction kinetics during chain extension and cross-linking the average molecular weight along with other critical process parameters can be monitored for reaction end point determination.
What hardware components are required for a successful PAT implementation?
Typically the NIR Process Spectrometer is connected with fiber optical cables and some time of sample interface. The sample interface could be a direct insertion probe or flow cell. By designing these three pieces of hardware to be optically matched the analytical performance of the PAT implementation is improved.