How Bioreactors Work & How We Save You Time & Money
No matter what your equipment needs might be, the Excedr lease program can procure virtually all equipment types and can accommodate any brand preferences your end-user might have. Drop us a line today and see how leasing can save you time and money on your bioreactor or photobioreactor.
All equipment brands/models are available
The Advantages of Excedr’s Fermentation Products Leasing Program:
- Eliminates the upfront cost of purchasing equipment by spreading its cost over time
- Minimizes equipment downtime with included complete repair coverage and preventive maintenance
- Takes advantage of potentially 100% tax deductible* payments, providing you significant cash-savings
- Expedites the administrative work needed for instrument procurement and logistics
- Conserves working capital, enabling you to reinvest in your core business and operations (staffing, inventory, marketing/sales, etc.)
- Accommodates all manufacturer and model preferences
*Please consult your tax advisor to determine the full tax implications of leasing equipment.
A bioreactor is a vessel in which a biological reaction or change takes place. It is most commonly used to cultivate mammalian cells, plant cells, bacteria, yeast, and more.
These devices are designed to simulate a natural biochemical setting for tissues or cell growth in microbial or cell cultures and are commonly used in upstream bioprocessing, fundamental research, and industrial processes. Growth and cultivation is accomplished by providing a biologically controlled environment where pH, temperature, oxygen levels, and moisture are all tunable, allowing researchers to create the optimal environment for specific cell culture.
Some of the most critical environmental conditions controlled include aeration, agitation, nutrient, and pH, as cells are susceptible to these conditions. For this reason, one of the most critical bioreactor functions is to provide dissolved oxygen to cells continuously (aeration).
These controlled environments can facilitate anaerobic or aerobic chemical processes involving organisms directly or biochemically active substances from such organisms.
Standalone bioreactors and systems can either be closed or open and are found in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. They are commonly used to manufacture pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and more.
Furthermore, the increasing demand for biopharmaceuticals, vaccines, and antibody therapies has led to advanced process strategies that overcome traditional batch cultivation limitations and provide scientists with high cell density cultivation methods using modern bioreactors.
Models come in a range of sizes depending on their uses, from benchtop units to industrial-sized systems, as well as several operation types, including:
- Batch Reactor: This refers to a system that uses a tank equipped with an agitator and a temperature control system.
- Fed-Batch Culture: This involves adding substrates to the bioreactor while cultivation is occurring. Additionally, all products remain within the bioreactor. It is also referred to as semi-continuous.
- Continuous Reactor: A reactor where the enzymes or other reactants are added continuously, and the product comes out at a continuous rate. Also known as flow reactors, these models provide options for process intensification and high cell density production without negatively affecting the cell line.
Bioreactors and bioreactor systems are helpful outside of the life sciences, as well. They are employed in biomass production, making the production of organic material such as algae, animal cells, and single-cell proteins much more efficient. They can form metabolites like ethanol, pigments, and organic acids. And lastly, they are useful in biochemical engineering, specifically for tissue growth, proving themselves useful in the emerging field of 3D tissue engineering.
Bioreactor Types, Benefits, & Cost
Bioreactor cell culture system functionality depends on several factors. Below, we’ll cover some of these types and their benefits. Many of the models available today come with real-time integrated monitoring and advanced analytics that can enable automation.
Photobioreactor (PBR)
Photobioreactors are involved in the use of light in the cultivation of phototrophic microorganisms. Examples include algae, moss, and cyanobacteria.
PBRs offer an artificial environment that encourages a much higher growth rate and provides higher purity samples than natural ones.
Though PBRs can be typified as either open or closed systems, closed systems are the overwhelmingly common choice.
Continuously Stirred-Tank (CSTR)
Continuously Stirred-Tank bioreactors create a controlled, homogenous environment by having their contents constantly moving through the use of agitators.
In addition to the standard environmental controls that bioreactors offer, CSTRs, or continuous-flow stirred tanks, also allow for the culture medium’s flow to be defined depending on the application. Common CSTRs include chemostats, turbidostats, and auxostats.
Bubble Column (BCR)
These devices utilize a liquid cylinder (or liquid-solid suspension) and introduce gas through the bottom of the cylinder. The contents are mixed by having the gas bubble through the liquid in a process known as sparging or gas flushing.
This pneumatic mixed reaction can be used to produce enzymes and proteins or chemical reactions such as wet oxidation.
Packed Bed
A packed bed, in chemical processing, refers to exactly what you would expect, a hollow, empty container that is filled with packing material. This methodology is used to encourage better contact between two samples in different phases. Packed bed bioreactors are tubular and are filled with microbial cells or immobilized enzymes as a catalyst.
As the sample passes through the catalyst, it reacts, causing the substance’s chemical composition to change. A significant advantage of packed bed bioreactors compared to other types is their high conversion rate per catalyst weight.
Membrane (MBR)
Chemical reactors that use membranes to perform their functions are usually used to refer to as membrane bioreactors. They add reactants or remove products from reactions through both membrane separation and chemical conversion processes.
The two types of MBRs are internal or submerged and external or sidestream.
Internal MBRs involve having the membrane installed inside the bioreactor. In external MBRs, the filtration elements are found outside of the reactor.
Single-Use vs. Multiple-Use
Single-use bioreactors, equipped with a disposable bag made of multiple layers of polymer that serve different functions, were introduced into the biopharmaceuticals market around 25 years ago and have become widely accepted as an alternative to stainless steel or glass bioreactors.
The benefits they provide to process development and clinical manufacturing are significant. Given its many benefits, single-use bioreactors are increasingly used for small-scale, mid-scale, and large-scale production runs.
Traditional multiple-use bioreactors typically require cleaning after each cell culture run, while smaller-scale systems are made of glass and can be sterilized in an autoclave. Larger bioreactor systems are generally stainless-steel and require additional plumbed-in systems for sterilization, such as cleaning in place and steaming in place.
Bioreactor Applications
Bioreactors are essential devices in biochemical engineering, with a vast range of applications in today’s market. Algae biofuel and wastewater treatment are some of the largest and most innovative applications of bioreactors, in addition to the successful use of these devices in bioengineered tissues.
The applications of such tissue cultures are as interesting as they are numerous. Still, one of the most fascinating would have to be the possibility of “growing” replacement tissues and, eventually, replacement organs.
Tufts University was able to partially regrow the amputated limb of a frog using a wearable bioreactor to encourage cell regeneration. The University of Texas Medical Branch is using bioreactors to try to make an artificial lung.
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor Leases to Fit Every Need
If you’re interested in leasing a bioreactor or want to scale up your current system so that you can perform large-scale production, we can help. Additionally, our lease program can accommodate if you need to complete your bioprocessing workflow by acquiring a colony picker.
Contact us today at +1 888-927-3802 or fill out our contact form online and we can discuss in further detail your exact equipment needs.
Operating Lease
This off-balance sheet financing structure provides three options at the end of the term. The lessee has the option to return the equipment to the lessor, renew at a discounted rate, or purchase the instrument for the fair market value. Monthly payments are also 100% tax deductible which yields additional monetary savings.
Sale-Leaseback
If you recently bought equipment, Excedr can offer you cash for your device and convert your purchase into a long-term rental. This is called a sale-leaseback. If you’ve paid for equipment within the last ninety days, we can help you recoup your investment and allow you to make low monthly payments. This also frees up money in your budget rather than tying it down to a fixed asset.
Bioreactor Manufacturers & Models
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IKA:
Algaemaster 10 Control, 0020015196
Satorius:
ambr analysis module, ambr 15 cell culture, ambr 15 fermentation, ambr 250 throughput, ambr 250 throughput perfusion, ambr 250 modular, BIOSTAT A, BIOSTAT B, BIOSTAT B-DCU, BIOSTAT D-DCU, BIOSTAT Cplus, BIOSTAT STR & Flexsafe STR, BIOSTAT RM & Flexsafe RM, BIOSTAT RM TX & Flexsafe RM TX Bags, UniVessel SU, UniVessel Glass, ambr 250 modular, ambr 250 high throughput perfusion, ambr 250 high throughput, ambr 15 fermentation, ambr 15 cell culture, ambr 15, BIOSTAT D-DCU
Applikon Biotechnology:
ez2-Control bundle, AppliFlex ST, AppliFlex RB, Micro-Flask, micro-Matrix, Mini Bioreactors, MiniBio 250, MiniBio 500, MiniBio 1000, iCellis Nano, PALL iCELLis, CellReady, PADmini, HyPerforma SUF, HyPerforma SUB, RAMbio, Anaerobic Fermentation Monitor, PhotoBioreactors, PhotoBio,my-Control Bundle, CellReady bundle
Eppendorf Bioreactors:
DASbox Mini System, DASGIP Parallel Systems, BioFlo 320, BioFlo 120, New Brunswick BioFlo 510, New Brunswick CelliGen 510, New Brunswick BioFlo 610, New Brunswick BioFlo Pro, DASbox Mini, DASGIP Bioblock Spinner Vessel, DASGIP Bioblock Stirrer Vessel, DASGIP Benchtop for Cell Culture, DASGIP Benchtop for Microbiology, DASGIP PhotoBioreactor, BioFlo 120 Vessels, BioFlo 320 Vessels, BioBLU c Single-Use Vessels, BioBLU f Single-Use Vessels, BioBLU Single-Use Vessel Adaptor kit
Thermo Fisher Scientific:
HyPerforma 5:1 Single-Use, SUB00508100, SUB00508101, SUB00508102, SUB01008200, SUB01008201, SUB01008202, SUB02508300, SUB02508301, SUB02508302, SUB05008400, SUB05008401, 5:1 Single-Use, SUB10009009, SUB10009010, SUB20009009, SUB20009010
GE Health Life Sciences:
Xcellerex XDR-50 to 2000 Single Vessel, Xcellerex XDR-50 to 2000 Multi-Vessel, Xcellerex XDR-10 Bioreactor System Single Vessel, Xcellerex XDR-10 Bioreactor System Multi-Vessel, Xcellerex XDR-50 MO Fermentor System Rocking Bioreactors: ReadyToProcess Pump 25, Xuri Cell Expansion System W5, ReadyToProcess WAVE 25 Rocker, Xuri Cell Expansion System W25
Parr Instrument Company:
Series 4600 Pressure Vessel System, Series 4625 High Pressure Vessels, Series 4650 High Pressure/High Temperature Vessels, Series 4660 Pressure Vessel Systems, Series 4670 HP/HT Vessels, Series 4675 General Purpose Vessels, Series 4680 High Pressure/ High Temp. Vessels
and more!
