Does the BioBLU 0.3f single-use scale to the BioFlo® 320 reuseable bioreactor on a matched volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient?

Abstract

The volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient (kla) is an essential parameter in aerobic high-cell density fermentation where the availability of oxygen to growing microorganisms is a limiting factor. Bioprocess teams looking to scale-up/down between the Eppendorf BioBLU 0.3f single-use vessel and the BioFlo® 320 reusable vessel bioreactors may find it challenging using a matched kla. The maximum kla of the BioFlo® 320 reusable bioreactor was 109 h−1, which was approximately twice that of the BioBLU 0.3f single-use vessel. The results here show no overlap in kla values when both bioreactors were compared and thus conclude that scalability based on kla is not viable. The maximum kla of the Eppendorf BioBLU 0.3f single-use reported here was 47 h−1 compared to that of the manufacturer’s value of 2500 h−1, indicating a 53-fold difference. This discrepancy was attributed to the incompatible sulfite addition method used by the manufacturer for estimation.