Upstream Bioreactors & Parallel Microbioreactors Integration Guide

Connecting Sartorius Biostat® STR, Sartorius Ambr® 15/250, Thermo Fisher HyPerforma™ (TruBio® DV), and Eppendorf BioFlo® / DASGIP® Systems to GxPHistorian GxP Industrial Historian

For Cytiva Xcellerex™ X-Platform bioreactors, see the dedicated guide: XCELLEREX_X_PLATFORM_INTEGRATION.md.

1. Overview of Upstream Bioreactor Platforms

Upstream Processing (USP) seed trains, Process Development (PD) high-throughput screening, and GMP production vessels rely on four dominant bioreactor automation ecosystems alongside Cytiva Figurate™:

Sartorius Biostat STR® (Gen 3) & Biostat® B-DCU: Controlled by local Biobrain / DCU-4 (Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 PLC) and supervised by BioPAT® MFCS 4 SCADA, exposing native OPC UA and Siemens S7comm interfaces.
Sartorius Ambr® 250 High Throughput & Ambr® 15 Cell Culture: Automated parallel microbioreactor workstations (12, 24, or 48 single-use vessels) exposing a unified Ambr® OPC UA Server (or bridged via BioPAT® MFCS) with multi-vessel namespace trees.
Thermo Fisher Scientific HyPerforma™ S.U.B. / S.U.F. (50 L – 5000 L): Powered by TruBio™ DV software built natively on Emerson DeltaV™ DCS, exposing OPC UA (DeltaV PK / Application Station) and legacy OPC DA.
Eppendorf BioFlo® 320 / 720 & DASGIP® Parallel Bioreactors: Equipped with DASware® connect, which provides an integrated OPC UA and OPC DA server for seamless historian and DoE integration.

Upstream Bioreactor Platforms Product Photo Gallery: Sartorius Biostat STR, Sartorius Ambr 250, Thermo HyPerforma S.U.B. & Eppendorf BioFlo 320

Sartorius Biostat STR, Sartorius Ambr 250/15, Thermo HyPerforma & Eppendorf BioFlo Visual Wiring Guide

1.5 Non-Technical Step-by-Step Physical & Software Connection Walkthrough

Whether you are connecting a benchtop Eppendorf BioFlo 320, a 24-vessel Sartorius Ambr 250 robot, or a 2,000 L Sartorius Biostat STR, here is exactly where to plug in and which menu buttons to press:

Bioreactor System	Where to Plug the Ethernet Cable on the Physical Unit	Exact Touchscreen / Software Menu Path to Enable	Network Test Command
1. Sartorius Biostat STR® (Gen 3) & Biostat® B-DCU	Open the stainless Biobrain / DCU-4 cabinet door. Locate the Siemens S7-1500 CPU. Plug a Cat6A cable into Port `X2` (Plant / SCADA LAN)—leave Port `X1` (Green PROFINET I/O cable) untouched!	Path A (Direct Biobrain OPC UA): On the Biobrain touchscreen, tap Settings $\rightarrow$ Service $\rightarrow$ Network (X2), set Static IP `10.20.40.15`, and verify OPC UA Server = Active (`:4840`). Path B (Via BioPAT® MFCS 4 PC): Open MFCS 4 Configurator $\rightarrow$ OPC UA Server $\rightarrow$ Enable Server on Port `4840`.	`nc -zv 10.20.40.15 4840`
2. Sartorius Ambr® 250 & Ambr® 15 (12/24/48 Vessels)	Look at the back of the Ambr Control Workstation PC next to the liquid-handling deck. NEVER unplug NIC 1 (connected to the Ambr robot & deck sensors). Plug your Cat6 cable into NIC 2 (Plant Network) (or plug in a USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter).	Open Ambr® Runtime Software $\rightarrow$ System Configuration $\rightarrow$ OPC UA Server. Check Enable OPC UA Server, bind it to NIC 2 IP (`10.20.40.20:4840`), and verify all 12/24/48 vessel namespaces (`Vessel_01` .. `Vessel_24`) are exported.	`nc -zv 10.20.40.20 4840`
3. Thermo Fisher HyPerforma™ S.U.B. / S.U.F. (TruBio™ DV)	Locate the TruBio® DV / Emerson DeltaV™ Control Tower on the bioreactor skid. Plug a Cat6A cable into the bulkhead port labeled `NORTHBOUND / HISTORIAN LAN (SCN2)`.	On the TruBio® DV / DeltaV Application Station, open DeltaV Explorer $\rightarrow$ Application Station Properties $\rightarrow$ OPC UA Server, check Enable (`:4840`), and trust the `GxPHistorian` client certificate.	`nc -zv 10.20.40.30 4840`
4. Eppendorf BioFlo® 320 / 720 & DASGIP® Parallel	Look at the lower-rear connector panel of the BioFlo 320 cylindrical control tower (above the gas sparge connections). Plug a Cat6 cable into the upper RJ45 jack labeled `Ethernet / OPC` (do not use the lower `Aux / Sensor Bus` port).	On the BioFlo 320 front touchscreen, tap Settings (Gear) $\rightarrow$ System $\rightarrow$ Network, enter Static IP `10.20.40.40`. Then tap Settings $\rightarrow$ License / Features $\rightarrow$ OPC UA and toggle OPC UA Server = ON (`Port 4840`) (requires Eppendorf `DASware connect` / OPC UA license key).	`nc -zv 10.20.40.40 4840`

2. Integration Architecture

flowchart LR
  subgraph USP["Upstream Bioreactor Skids & Workstations"]
    SART["Sartorius Biostat® STR Gen 3\n(Biobrain S7-1500 / BioPAT® MFCS 4)"]
    AMBR["Sartorius Ambr® 250 / Ambr® 15\n(12–48 Parallel Vessels OPC UA)"]
    TRUBIO["Thermo Fisher HyPerforma™ S.U.B.\n(TruBio® DV / Emerson DeltaV™)"]
    EPP["Eppendorf BioFlo® / DASGIP®\n(DASware® connect)"]
  end

  subgraph Edge["Pillar 1: Edge Collector (edge-collector)"]
    OPCUA["Telegraf [[inputs.opcua]] /\nPython Deadband Worker"]
    S7["Siemens S7comm Worker\n(Rack/Slot DB Polling)"]
    WAL["Telegraf Disk WAL\n(/var/lib/telegraf/buffer)"]
    OPCUA --> WAL
    S7 --> WAL
  end

  subgraph Core["GxPHistorian GxP Historian"]
    CH["ClickHouse 24.8 Archive\n(pi_historian.sensor_data)"]
    PG["PostgreSQL 16 Control Plane\n(ltree ISA-95 + Event Frames)"]
  end

  SART -->|"OPC UA (:4840) or S7comm (:102)"| OPCUA
  SART -.->|"Direct S7-1500 DB"| S7
  AMBR -->|"OPC UA (:4840)"| OPCUA
  TRUBIO -->|"DeltaV OPC UA (:4840)"| OPCUA
  EPP -->|"DASware connect OPC UA"| OPCUA
  WAL -->|"JSONEachRow"| CH
  PG -.->|"pg_asset_tags Dictionary"| CH

3. Platform-Specific Configuration

3.1 Sartorius Biostat® STR (Gen 3) & BioPAT® MFCS 4

Sartorius BioPAT® MFCS 4 acts as the supervisory SCADA and batch server for Biostat® B, Biostat® D-DCU, and Biostat® STR single-use bioreactors, while Biostat® STR Gen 3 also offers direct OPC UA server access from its Biobrain (Siemens S7-1500) automation controller.

Option 1: OPC UA via BioPAT® MFCS 4 or Biobrain (`edge-collector/telegraf-clickhouse.conf`)

[[inputs.opcua]]
  name = "sensor_data"
  endpoint = "opc.tcp://10.20.40.15:4840"
  security_policy = "Basic256Sha256"
  security_mode = "SignAndEncrypt"
  certificate = "/etc/telegraf/certs/gxphistorian_client_cert.pem"
  private_key = "/etc/telegraf/certs/gxphistorian_client_key.pem"
  auth_method = "UserName"
  username = "${MFCS_OPCUA_USER}"
  password = "${MFCS_OPCUA_PASSWORD}"

  nodes = [
    # Biostat STR 2000L Process Variables
    { name = "val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Variables.TEMP.Value", default_tags = { tag_id = "201" } },
    { name = "val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Variables.PH1.Value",  default_tags = { tag_id = "202" } },
    { name = "val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Variables.PO2_1.Value", default_tags = { tag_id = "203" } },
    { name = "val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Variables.STIRR.Value", default_tags = { tag_id = "204" } },
    { name = "val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Variables.SUBS_A.Value", default_tags = { tag_id = "205" } },
    { name = "str_val", namespace = "2", identifier_type = "s", identifier = "Units.STR2000_01.Batch.PhaseName", default_tags = { tag_id = "206" } }
  ]

Option 2: Direct Siemens S7-1500 (`S7COMM`) Polling

For discrete safety interlocks, agitator drive status words, or jacket valve states stored in non-optimized S7-1500 Data Blocks (DB), GxPHistorian natively supports S7COMM metadata in tags.source_config (matching seeded Tag 103 in init-postgres/01_control_plane_part11.sql):

{
  "plc_ip": "10.20.40.16",
  "rack": 0,
  "slot": 1,
  "db": 10,
  "offset": 0,
  "data_type": "INT"
}

3.2 Sartorius Ambr® 250 High Throughput & Ambr® 15 (Multi-Vessel Array Pattern)

An Ambr® 250 (12 or 24 vessels) or Ambr® 15 (24 or 48 vessels) generates hundreds of tags across parallel mini-bioreactors running Design of Experiments (DoE) clone selection or media optimization studies.

Because GxPHistorian GxP Historian models its Asset Framework in PostgreSQL using ltree (assets.asset_path) and asset_templates, you can instantiate all 24 or 48 Ambr vessels from a single template in one audited SQL transaction:

BEGIN;
SET LOCAL app.actor_id = 'operator_01';
SET LOCAL app.change_reason = 'Provision Ambr 250 HT 24-Vessel DoE Array in USP PD Lab';

-- 1. Create Reusable Ambr 250 Vessel Template
INSERT INTO asset_templates (template_id, template_name, attribute_specs) VALUES
  (10, 'Sartorius_Ambr250_Vessel_Template', '[
    {"attribute_name": "Vessel_Temperature", "eng_units": "degC", "low_limit": 36.0, "high_limit": 37.5, "is_step_tag": false},
    {"attribute_name": "Media_pH", "eng_units": "pH", "low_limit": 6.7, "high_limit": 7.3, "is_step_tag": false},
    {"attribute_name": "Dissolved_Oxygen", "eng_units": "%Sat", "low_limit": 20.0, "high_limit": 100.0, "is_step_tag": false},
    {"attribute_name": "Stirrer_Speed", "eng_units": "RPM", "low_limit": 100.0, "high_limit": 1500.0, "is_step_tag": false},
    {"attribute_name": "Pumped_Base_Volume", "eng_units": "mL", "is_step_tag": false}
  ]'::jsonb)
ON CONFLICT (template_id) DO NOTHING;

-- 2. Register Vessels 01..24 under BioCorp.Fremont.PD_USP.Ambr250_01.Vessel_XX
INSERT INTO assets (asset_name, asset_path, template_id, metadata)
SELECT
  format('Ambr250_Vessel_%s', lpad(v::text, 2, '0')),
  text2ltree(format('BioCorp.Fremont.PD_USP.Ambr250_01.Vessel_%s', lpad(v::text, 2, '0'))),
  10,
  jsonb_build_object('vessel_number', v, 'working_volume_mL', 250, 'system', 'Sartorius Ambr 250 HT')
FROM generate_series(1, 24) AS v
ON CONFLICT (asset_path) DO NOTHING;

COMMIT;

In Grafana (gxphistorian_bioreactor_hmi.json), changing the $asset_path dropdown or querying asset_path <@ 'BioCorp.Fremont.PD_USP.Ambr250_01' in ClickHouse via dictGet('pi_historian.pg_asset_tags', 'asset_path', toUInt64(tag_id)) lets scientists overlay all 24 vessels or export the entire 24-vessel DoE dataset into a single Apache Parquet file (POST /api/v1/lakehouse/export-parquet with "asset_path": "BioCorp.Fremont.PD_USP.Ambr250_01").

3.3 Thermo Fisher HyPerforma™ S.U.B. / TruBio® DV & Eppendorf DASware® connect

Thermo Fisher HyPerforma™ with TruBio® DV (DeltaV™)

TruBio® DV uses standard Emerson DeltaV™ modules (e.g., TC-101 temperature control loop, AC-101 pH control loop, AC-102 DO control loop, FC-101..104 gas MFCs, SC-101 agitator speed, and WC-101 vessel weight).

Modern DeltaV (v13/v14/v15+): Connect edge-collector directly to the DeltaV Application Station / PK Controller OPC UA Server (opc.tcp://<deltav-app-station>:4840).
Legacy DeltaV OPC Mirror (OPC DA 2.05a): Run edge-collector/scripts/opcda_windows_forwarder.py with OPCDA_PROG_ID="OPC.DeltaV.1" directly on the DeltaV Application Station to stream deadband-filtered JSON batches to http://<edge-collector>:8080/ingest.

Eppendorf BioFlo® / DASGIP® with DASware® connect

DASware® connect exposes each reactor module (Unit 1 .. Unit 16) over OPC UA (opc.tcp://<dasware-host>:4840/DASwareConnect):

Map UnitX.T.PV (Temperature), UnitX.pH.PV (pH), UnitX.DO.PV (Dissolved Oxygen), UnitX.N.PV (Agitation RPM), UnitX.F.PV ( Gas Flow sL/h), and UnitX.Level.PV (Foam/Level) with is_step_tag = false.
Map UnitX.InoculationTime and UnitX.ProcessState with is_step_tag = true (LOCF).

4. Recommended Tag Deadband & Limit Reference for USP Bioreactors

Parameter	Eng Units	`is_step_tag`	Recommended `exc_dev`	Recommended `exc_max`	Typical Mammalian Cell Culture Limits
Vessel Temperature (`TEMP.PV`)	`degC`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.05`	`10.0 s`	`35.0` – `38.0 °C`
Media pH (`PH.PV`)	`pH`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.02`	`10.0 s`	`6.80` – `7.40 pH`
Dissolved Oxygen (`DO.PV`)	`%Sat`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.20`	`10.0 s`	`20.0` – `100.0 %Sat`
Dissolved $\text{CO}_2$ (`pCO2.PV`)	`mmHg`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.50`	`30.0 s`	`20.0` – `120.0 mmHg`
Agitation Speed (`AGIT_RPM.PV`)	`RPM`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.50`	`30.0 s`	Vessel scale dependent
Agitator / Pump State	`state`	`true` (`LOCF`)	`0.00`	`60.0 s`	`0` (`OFF`), `1` (`LOW`), `2` (`RUN`)
Sparger / Overlay MFCs ( $\text{Air}, \text{O}_2, \text{CO}_2, \text{N}_2$ )	`SLPM`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.02`	`15.0 s`	`0.0` – Max MFC rating
Vessel Weight / Feed Scale (`WT.PV`)	`kg` or `g`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`0.10`	`30.0 s`	Scale capacity limits
Redox Potential (`ORP.PV`)	`mV`	`false` (`LINEAR`)	`1.00`	`30.0 s`	`-400` – `+400 mV`
ISA-88 Batch Phase (`PHASE_STATE`)	`phase`	`true` (`LOCF`)	`0.00`	`60.0 s`	String state in `str_val`