A photobioreactor for culturing light-sensitive microbes is provided, the reactor comprising a body comprising at least one floor panel and at least one wall extending upwardly around the periphery of the floor panel to define a body, wherein the at least one floor panel comprises at least one graded segment so as to define a trough along the bottom of the body towards which debris within the body flows, at least one illumination panel within the body so that there is free flow of liquid along the sides and floor panel of the body, at least one gas inlet within the trough in the floor panel, for providing an upward stream of gas into the body so as to generate air lift of the light sensitive microbes within the body. Also provided is a method for growing light-sensitive microbes.

The present invention relates to the field of fermentation. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for production of products by use of living cells or active components derived from such cells using a bioreactor having a built in gas distributor and a specific system/device for handling foam formed in the process. The invention also relates to a bioreactor comprising: a reaction chamber having a fermentation zone and a foam settling zone, wherein the reaction chamber is arranged such that the foam settling zone is spaced from or physically separated from the fermentation zone so as to reduce the effect of activity in the fermentation zone on foam in the settling zone. The separation of the fermentation zone from the activity of the fermentation zone encourages settling of the foam. The invention also provides a method of forming a bioreactor comprising: overlapping two flat, flexible sheets of material; and causing said two sheets to adhere to each other in selected areas so as to define a reaction chamber. This is a particularly cost-effective way to produce a single use, disposable reactor.

An apparatus and method for the delivery and deposition of particles air-liquid-interface (ALI) cell cultures includes a sample inlet coupled to a growth tube having interior walls that are wet. The growth tube is configured to operate at a first temperature along a first length of the tube and a second temperature along a second length positioned between the first length and a growth tube outlet. The apparatus also includes a nozzle plate having a plurality of nozzles. The exposure chamber adapted to hold cell cultures at an air-liquid interface positioned underneath the plurality of nozzles and a temperature regulator adapted to control a temperature of the exposure chamber. The apparatus also includes a controller including instructions operable to cause the controller to maintain a relative humidity within the exposure chamber by controlling at least the second temperature of the growth tube and the temperature of the exposure chamber.

A syntrophic enrichment for enhanced digestion (SEED) system is presented, in which a retrofit addition to existing anaerobic digestion infrastructure provides improved digestion process rate and biogas quality. The system provides optimal niche environments for accelerating fermentative, syntrophic and methanogenic metabolisms to increase digestion system loading rates and enhance main digester microbiome. Prescribed media formulations, reactor integrations, and operational methods using various fixed and loose media enhance global digestion system performance. The retrofitted system enables existing plants to transition from an outdated solids-management model to one of valorized biomethane production.

The present invention relates to a reaction device with air-lift type internal circulation which includes: a vertical cylindrical volume (1), more than one draft tube vertical element (2) positioned within the cylindrical volume (1) in such a manner as to form an gap with the walls of said volume, more than one gas distributor (3), each of which is positioned on the bottom of said device; wherein: each vertical internal element (2) has an internal diameter which increases along the vertical axis of said element, and the ratio between the total height of the reaction device and the internal diameter of the reaction device is less than 1.

Disclosed herein are bioreactors that include a vessel with sides and a bottom, at least one opening in the vessel connected to a means for introducing a gas, and at least one scaffold in the vessel oriented substantially vertically in the vessel. The scaffolds are two substantially parallel sheets that are separated by a distance (d.sub.min). Also disclosed herein are bioreactors that include a vessel with sides and a bottom, at least one opening in the vessel connected to a means for introducing a gas, and at least two scaffolds in the vessel oriented substantially vertically in the vessel. The disclosure also includes methods of culturing cells including incubating a suspension of cells in a disclosed bioreactor and introducing a gas through the at least one opening in the vessel. In some examples, the cells include microalgae, macroalgae, bacteria, fungi, insect cells, plant cells, or animal cells.

The invention relates to a microbioreactor module for the three-dimensional cultivation of cells, especially stem cells. Said microbioreactor is intended for single use and, in an embodiment of the invention, can be used as a multi-microbioreactor.

The present disclosure relates to a system including a main exterior body. The main exterior body includes (i) a return section at a bottom of the main exterior body, (ii) a gas disengagement section at a top of the main exterior body, (iii) a riser section positioned between the return section and the gas disengagement section, and (iv) a downcomer section positioned between the gas disengagement section and the return section. The system also includes one or more first spargers each having a first end and a second end opposite the first end. Each of the one or more first spargers are positioned such that the first end is outside of the main exterior body and the second end is positioned in a lower portion of the riser section of the main exterior body. The one or more first spargers are configured to supply compressed gas to the riser section of the main exterior body. The system also includes one or more second spargers each having a first end and a second end opposite the first end. Each of the one or more second spargers are positioned such that the first end is outside of the main exterior body and the second end is positioned in a lower portion of the downcomer section of the main exterior body adjacent to the return section. The one or more second spargers are configured to supply compressed gas to the downcomer section of the main exterior body.

A bioreactor includes a plurality of spargers and a plurality of vertical circulation loops. A first vertical circulation loop of the plurality of vertical circulation loops includes a first sparging region and a first return region. The first vertical circulation loop is in liquid communication with one or more other loops of the plurality of vertical circulation loops. The first vertical circulation loop is characterized by an individual loop mass transfer coefficient. A controller is coupled to the plurality of spargers and configured to control the plurality of spargers together such that a cumulative mass transfer coefficient of the plurality of vertical circulation loops is within a threshold of the individual loop mass transfer coefficient associated with the first vertical circulation loop.

A fermenter can have at least one hollow fluid conduit disposed at least partially within a vessel. An external circumference of the hollow fluid conduit and an interior circumference of the vessel can define a downward flow path through which a multi-phase mixture including a liquid media and compressed gas substrate bubbles flows. An interior circumference of the hollow fluid conduit can defined an upward flow path which is in fluid communication with the downward flow path. The multi-phase liquid can flow through the upward flow path and exit the fermenter. Cooling may be provided in the hollow fluid conduit or the vessel. One or more backpressor generators can be used to maintain a backpressure on the fermenter. One or more fluid movers can be used to variously create an induced and/or forced flow in the downward and upward flow paths.