Single-use components and systems now are firmly established in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The trend toward simplified and flexible upstream and downstream plant design means that these components are becoming increasingly important — especially in biopharmaceutical production. In the past, the only available disposables were primarily tubes, fittings, and possibly filters. But the number of single-use systems has been increasing for a number of years now. It is hardly surprising that plant designers and operators now can rely on…