Development of a single-use, hermetic cell-harvesting centrifuge
Alfa Laval CultureOne™ is a scalable and efficient centrifugal separation system featuring single-use components. Designed to address the specific demands of modern biopharmaceutical processing, it combines Alfa Laval’s proven separation technologies to ensure gentle product handling and high recovery rates during cell-culture-based fermentations. Under certain conditions, yields of up to 98% have been demonstrated.
The proof-of-concept experiments showed that continuous flow of a thick suspension of CHO cells was possible while maintaining a low turbidity and high filterability of the light phase. The resultant high yield values as well as decreased lysis of the cells in the feed line and rotating bowl also were positive results.”
What you will learn in this whitepaper about single-use separation:
This whitepaper examines the robust design of Alfa Laval CultureOne™, engineered to deliver reliable and quiet rotation of separation components. The text also looks at the interior design of the unit, including Alfa Laval’s unique Hermetic Design™ and TopStream™ technology, which together ensure efficient separation with minimal cell lysis. You will learn how:
- Gentle handling of shear thinned concentrated cell suspension via unique TopStream design allows for recovery of cells with protein producing mechanisms intact
- CultureOne can achieve yields of up to 98%
- Gentle processing with hermetic inlets to minimize additional cell lysis across the system
- Efficient use of post centrifugation filters up to 900l/m2 can be achieved
- The system is designed to effectively deal with process upsets and extreme operating conditions
Experiment
High-density feed (PCV 28%) and stress testing were performed, including a 35-minute interruption with no flow while the bowl remained spinning.
Results
Stable operation was maintained at high solids content, with the light phase (LP) showing good clarity. After flow was reestablished, the separation process resumed normally and performed as expected.
Experiment
A full single-use prototype system was tested to evaluate six different design configurations using a 7.3% PCV cell culture fluid.
Results
All configurations demonstrated low additional cell lysis, high yield, and large filtration throughput. Certain configurations achieved higher filtration throughput at low to medium load factors and flow rates.
Experiment
Trials using the TopStream™ were conducted, in which solids and concentrated biomass flowed toward the outlet over the top disc. The cell culture fluid had a 6.6% PCV.
Results
A concentration of approximately 70% was achieved at the heavy phase outlet. Increasing the G-force raised the concentration to up to 80%.