Characterization of novel pneumatic mixing for single-use bioreactor application

Background The novel bioreactor system from PBS Biotech is the first with a pneumatic mixing device powered solely by gas buoyancy, eliminating the need for an external mechanical agitator. The patented design of the AirWheel mixing device promotes not only high tangential fluid flow around the wheel but also efficient radial and axial flows. The leverage effect of the Air-Wheel mixing device also allows for lower gassing requirement (v/v) with increasing working volume, making the power utilization from the gas buoyancy more efficient with scale. A series of physical tests were performed to demonstrate that PBS systems can promote uniform, homogenous mixing over a wide range of working volumes and can offer a low-shear environment for cell culture. A series of biological tests were then performed at various evaluation sites to confirm the physical test results.