Provided is a defoamer for a fermenter. A defoamer for a fermenter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a body (100) having a first hollow (110) at a central portion thereof and having a disk shape; a support (200) having a second hollow (210) connected with the first hollow (110), and extending from an upper surface (120) and a lower surface (130) of the body (100); and a plurality of first vanes (310, 320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, and 380) mounted on the lower surface (130) of the body (100).

The subject invention provides systems, apparatuses and methods for cultivating microorganisms and for producing microbial metabolites on a large scale. Specifically, in certain embodiments, a system comprising three separate, but connected, vessels is provided, wherein a first vessel serves as a feed tank for supplying nutrient medium to a second vessel, said second vessel serving as a submerged fermentation reactor; and wherein a third vessel serves as a collection container into which foam containing microbial growth by-products is transferred from the second vessel.

System for detecting at least one presence of foam of a medium in a bioreactor plant, wherein the system comprises: —a bioreactor plant having at least one disposable container for receiving the medium that may comprise the foam; and—at least two capacitive sensor units which are attached at at least two different situating positions of the bioreactor plant, wherein the capacitive sensor units each comprise at least one electrode system for capacitive measurement and are able to detect the presence of foam at the at least two situating positions on the basis of the capacitive measurement; and wherein the capacitive sensor units are designed to transmit captured data relating to the presence of foam to at least one monitoring unit for monitoring, open-loop and/or closed-loop control of foam formation in the bioreactor plant on the basis of said data.

Provided is a device which is capable of ongoing measurement of variable foaming tendencies in a fluid system and provide a signal to regulate the feed rate of defoamer accordingly to maintain foaming at an acceptable target level. The regulation of feed can be accomplished automatically or manually.

A system and a method for monitoring and regulating the level of contents in a vessel is disclosed. In some embodiments, the system or the method use laser beams and photosensors to determine the level of the contents of the vessel.

A bioreactor vessel has an optical foam sensor (36) with a foam contact surface for contacting the foam to be detected. The foam contact surface is an inner side of a window (38) transparent to light from the visible and ultraviolet spectral range in an outer wall of the bioreactor vessel (10). An outer side of the window (38) is coupled to an illumination and detection unit (52) with at least one first light source (56) of visible light and at least one photodetector (58) to detect light from the first light source (56) that is reflected in the bioreactor vessel (10). The foam contact surface has a titanium dioxide coating (44) superhydrophilizable by photoactivation with ultraviolet light and the illumination and detection unit (52) has at least one second light source (66) of ultraviolet light.

The present invention provides improved bioprocessing systems and methods for cell culture using the improved bioreactors, e.g., batch-fed or perfusion bioreactor cell culture systems for production of monoclonal or bi-specific antibodies, which are modified to include one or more membrane gas transfer modules in place of a sparger- or microsparger-based aeration systems to better regulate the levels of critical gases in a bioreactor cell culture, e.g., the dissolved levels of O2 and CO2, even at high cell densities, without subjecting the cells to bubble-burst associated cell death.

This disclosure relates to reaction container systems providing for headspace-based condensation, coalescing devices, and other features. In some embodiments, this disclosure provides systems that reduce the relative humidity (RH) of an exhaust gas prior to or concurrent with its expulsion from the system through an exhaust filter.

A nozzle system for fluid deployment for treating a biological fluid within a bioreactor, having a bioreactor having an internal volume; an adjustable nozzle deployed within the internal volume; a reservoir capable of containing an agent; and a tubing connecting the reservoir and the adjustable nozzle, wherein the adjustable nozzle is capable of being adjusted to distribute a processing agent in a plurality of distribution streams.

A monitoring system for monitoring a process includes a housing with a viewing panel. The viewing panel includes a view port. An emitter generates light and illuminates an observation zone of the process. A detector is disposed within the housing and is configured to detect light entering the housing through the view port and create a plurality of images of the process in the observation zone. A thermal regulation system is configured to generate heat in the vicinity of the viewing panel of the housing so as to increase the temperature of at least the view port above ambient temperature.