Mass Transfer Coefficient Measurement in Single-use Bioreactor - Application of the Endoscopy Technique

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

There is an enormous demand to provide vaccines at higher scales and lower costs. Currently the economically**optimized solution seems to employ larger size single-use bioprocessing systems. This results in lowering**existing vaccines production cost and ultimately facilitating the development of new vaccines.**Sanofi Pasteur has the broadest available range of vaccines, protecting population against 20 out of 26**infectious diseases. The vaccines division of Sanofi, one of Canada's largest vaccine producing company is**interested in utilizing a single-use aerated stirred bioreactor for the production of vaccines at an industrial scale.**Despite the common use of the aerated stirred bioreactors, knowledge about the influence of various process**variables on performance of the single-use bioprocessing system is still limited. The performance of the aerated**stirred bioreactors utilized in numerous industries is highly dependent on the ability to transfer oxygen from the**gas phase to the liquid phase inside the reactors. A key part of understanding the mass transfer of oxygen is**related to being able to determine the size of the gas bubbles in the bioreactors. Therefore the goals in the**proposed research project are to investigate the hydrodynamics of gas/liquid interaction in the bioreactors as a**function of the design parameters and operating conditions and to develop an optimal design in obtaining an**efficient oxygen mass transfer rate, explicitly the volumetric mass-transfer coefficient, required for the vaccine**production inside of the aerated stirred bioreactor. To achieve these objectives, extensive experimentations**including advanced visualization and image analysis technique such as endoscopy (EnviroCam), and optical**dissolved oxygen meter (DO) are employed.**Results from the proposed project will enable the Canadian bioprocessing companies and vaccine**manufacturers to apply the single-use bioreactors in their production systems. This will lead to an enhanced**product quality, efficient use of power, increased production capacity, and capital/operational cost savings.