US 12,441,974 B2
Bioreactor design and methods of manufacture thereof
Gregory Tedeschi, Cromwell, CT (US); and Patrick Stephen Hill, Vernon, CT (US)
Assigned to MOTT CORPORATION, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed by Mott Corporation, Farmington, CT (US)
Filed on Feb. 5, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/168,893.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/970,614, filed on Feb. 5, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0238530 A1, Aug. 5, 2021
Int. Cl. C12M 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC C12M 29/14 (2013.01) [C12M 27/20 (2013.01); C12M 29/06 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A bioreactor comprising:
a vessel that is cylindrically shaped, extends axially between top and bottom ends, and has a radial outer surface, wherein the vessel is configured to contain a biological broth,
the vessel comprising:
a retentate receiving tank located at one of the top and bottom ends of the vessel;
a permeate receiving tank located at one of the top and bottom ends of the vessel;
a first tube, at a radial center of the vessel, wherein the first tube extends between the top and bottom ends of the vessel, for transporting a retentate to the retentate receiving tank;
a second tube, at the radial center of the vessel, wherein the second tube extends between the top and bottom ends of the vessel and radially surrounds the first tube for transporting a permeate to the permeate receiving tank;
a permeable membrane separates the first tube from the second tube; and
a third tube, at the radial center of the vessel, wherein the third tube has an axial portion and a radial portion,
wherein:
the axial portion of the third tube extends from the top end of the vessel toward the bottom end of the vessel and terminates within the vessel, near the bottom end of the vessel, so that at least a portion of the axial portion of the third tube is configured for being submerged within the biological broth, and wherein the axial portion of the third tube radially surrounds the second tube, whereby each of the tubes in the bioreactor are concentric and disposed along the radial center of the vessel; and
the radial portion of the third tube the extends radially outward from the axial portion of the third tube, near the bottom end of the vessel, toward the radial outer surface of the vessel such that the radial portion of the third tube is configured for being submerged within the biological broth,
wherein the radial portion of the third tube defines a sparger;
the bioreactor includes a pump for pressurizing a flow of gas or fluid that is directed into the third tube, and the third tube transports the flow into the vessel for sparging the biological broth contained in the vessel;
wherein the permeable membrane separates the biological broth into the permeate and the retentate during sparging of the biological broth; and
wherein the bioreactor is without an impeller disposed in the vessel.