Single-Use Fermentor System | Thermo Fisher Scientific

Designed specifically for microbial fermentation

The Thermo Scientific HyPerforma Single-Use Fermentor (S.U.F.) is pioneering the single-use technology market by delivering a unique and rigorous solution for microbial fermentation applications while offering the flexibility, ease of use, and efficiency found in single-use systems.

The S.U.F. is engineered for optimal oxygen mass transfer, mixing, and temperature control, with performance comparable to conventional stainless-steel systems. S.U.F.s use fundamental engineering principles, helping to make scale-up and process development work readily streamlined. Available in 30 L and 300 L sizes, the S.U.F. consists of a fermentor tank and a standard Thermo Scientific HyPerforma S.U.F. BioProcess Container (BPC).

Benefits of single-use fermentors

HyPerforma Enhanced Single-Use Fermentor Systems (eS.U.F.)

Enhancements to improve performance of single-use fermentors were made to the 300 L hardware, as well as the 30 L and 300 L BPCs, to match more closely the oxygen delivery and cooling capacity performance of the stainless steel fermentors.

Hardware enhancements

The cooling jacket surface area was increased on the sides and bottom for the 300 L S.U.F. to support adequate cooling of the production process. This 35% increase jacketed surface area will enable faster cooling of the molecule production process.

Jacket comparison of HyPerforma S.U.F. and eS.U.F.

Hardware and jacketing surface comparison between HyPerforma S.U.F. (300 L) and HyPerforma eS.U.F. (300 L).

BioProcessing Container (BPC) enhancements

The BPCs for 30 L and 300 L were redesigned to have three parabolic turbine impellers that increase oxygen delivery from spargers by at least four times (4x). As a result, customer and internal culture comparisons showed that oxygen supplementation was reduced 5–7 fold vs. HyPerforma S.U.F., and is comparable to performance of stainless-steel fermentors, per same strain and procedure.

Features of S.U.F and eS.U.F.

Developed with standard stainless-steel fermentation design geometry (3:1 height to diameter, 5:1 turndown ratio), the S.U.F. supports scale-up and process development activities.

3:1 total height-to-width aspect ratio for optimal cooling surface to volume ratio
The BPCs are highly configurable, allowing for flexibility to address specific application needs
Complete mixing system with a water jacket for temperature control
Drive shaft inserts into the BPC through the mixing drive motor and locks into the BPC agitator assembly of the S.U.F. BPC
Integrally sealed ports in the S.U.F. BPC allow for addition of sensor probes and line sets
Integrated foam sensor
Single-use pH, DO, temperature, foam, and pressure sensors with clear optical density plug port
Exhaust management system with options of low or high flow hydrophobic filter membranes and multiple vent filters based on gas flow needs
High flow exhaust condenser with back-up filters, gas sparge filter line sets
Feed, submerge fill, syringe sample, and drain line set options

Powerful agitation facilitates high oxygen transfer (kLa)and a homogeneous reaction

3 Rushton impellers with standard S.U.F. or enhanced parabolic with eS.U.F.
Impellers couple directly to shaft through bearing to drive motor
4 baffles
Drilled-hole sparge (DHS) with ring-like design
Innovative exhaust management and condenser systems designed to provide reliable off-gassing and help minimize liquid loss during the fermentation process

System options

Exhaust condenser unit (extend filter life)
Exhaust gas vent filter heater (extend filter life, recommended 151 W for 300 L)
Backup filter automated pinch clamp (extend filter life)
Load cells
Cable / tubing management tree
Turnkey system with HyPerforma G3 process control system
Electrical box for remote agitation or open-architecture control

S.U.F.s require a separate external temperature control unit (45 W/L min. cooling capacity recommended for high demanding cultures). You may choose an open-architecture approach or a turnkey, ready-to-use S.U.F. system.