Fermenter
Laboratory fermenter in acid resistant stainless steel with working volume 2-5 l for automatic sterilisation in place.

The fermenter vessel is mounted directly on the drive unit and secured with a special clamp. Steam and water to the vessel jacket are supplied from the drive unit without external tubings.

The parts inside the fermenter (baffles, sparger, agitator) can easily be removed to facilitate cleaning and changing of process. All process connections to the fermenter are O-ring sealed.

Included in the basic set-up are also filters for in- and outgoing gas, impeller of turbine type, drain tube, sampling valve, baffle, sparger, viewing glass on side and a set of tools and basic spares. Sterilisable, aseptic bottom valve can be added as an option.

Drive and Piping Unit

Floor standing unit built on a frame of stainless steel profiles. It can be provided with wheels for easy moving of the complete system. It contains all necessary controls for the culture vessel.

The lower part of the unit contains the agitator motor with the outer magnetic part and valves, circulation pump, heater etc. to connect gas, steam and water for sparging, sterilisation and temperature control during the process.

The gas flow can be set with a manually operated valve and is monitored by a mechanical flow meter at the right side of the unit. The gas system has also a separate bypass valve with an adjustable flow restriction valve and a solenoid valve that can be pulse driven from the control system.

The system may optionally include also an electronic measurement of the gas flow and regulation through the control system by sensor (mass-flow sensor) and control valve in the gas inlet line.

Sterilisation, cooling and temperature are controlled by solenoid and pneumatically operated valves, the circulation pump and the heater governed from the control system. Manometers at the front indicate the pressure of the connected media.

The upper part of the unit contains the microprocessor control system and additional instrumentation. It is placed at the level about 1.5 m from the floor for convenient operation.

All connections of supply media are placed at the rear of the cabinet bottom frame.

The Electric Unit is mounted in the lower, left part of the unit and contains electric equipment to execute the control signals from the microprocessor control system. The unit comprises contactors and relays e.g. for the circulation pumps and heater, fuses, transformers etc. and the agitator speed control unit.

Control Unit

The system can be provided with the Novaferm Fermenter Control System for direct digital control of fermentation processes based on programmable logical controllers from the SIMATIC S7 (Siemens) family. The modular concept allows control of fermenter systems from laboratory to industrial scale.

The standard control system includes hard- and software for control of temperature, speed and pH and measurement of dissolved oxygen. As an option dissolved oxygen can be cascade controlled by agitator speed and air flow. Additional parameters can be supplied on request. PC software for operator interface, but not hardware is included in the standard package.

Sensor Kit

The standard kit contains the following:

• 2 pcs Pt100 sensor with cable and connectors
• 1 pce Inductive sensor with cable and connector
• 1 pce pH sensor (Mettler) with cable and connector
• 1 pce pO2 sensor (Mettler) with cable and connector
• 1 pce Foam sensor with cable and connector

Additional sensors on request.

Pump Unit
Peristaltic pump for dosing of acid, alkali or other addition. Fix speed pump. Including glass container, tubing, sterile filter and needles. Container, hose and needles to be sterilised in autoclave. Delivered with silicone hose diameter 6,4/3,2 mm.

Technical Specification
Fermenter Vessel, 7 L

Vessel
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L
Working pressure: 3 bar overpressure and full vacuum.
Conditioning, vessel interior: Ground, grit 220, electropolished
Conditioning, vessel exterior: Ground, grit 220, electropolished
Bottom: Dished, with agitator

Jacket
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L
Working pressure: 4 bar overpressure and full vacuum

Lid
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L
Conditioning: Ground, grit 220, electropolished Flat, with six clamps.

Viewing glass: On side
Agitator Bottom mounted, magnetically coupled agitator with AC motor 0,5 kW, speed 0-1500 rpm. Impeller, flat turbine, 6 blades.
Seals Material, packings and seals: EPDM

Connections
Connections in lid: 5 pcs E-connections, diam. 25 mm
Connections in side: 5 pcs E-connections, diam. 25 mm
Connections in bottom: 1 pce temp. sensor pocket, diam. 6 mm
Connection for jacket: TC-clamp flange

Sparger
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L Nozzle below impeller.
Baffles
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L With 4 baffle plates. Detachable.
Pt 100 pocket
Material: Acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L for Pt 100 sensor
Sterile filter
Filter housings for in- and outgoing air. For 0.22 µm hydrophobic PTFE filter cartridges.
Accessories
Sampler in acid resistant stainless steel equal to AISI 316L. In situ sterilisable
Rubber septum connector, with 7 holes
Emptying tube for E-connection in lid
Sight glass illumination
Seal kit
Tool kit
Volume
Total volume 7 l, working volume 2-5 l.
Dimensions H=640 mm, W=250 mm
Vessel diam.(inner)=165 mm
Weight, approx. 25 kg
Design According to the Swedish Code for pressure vessels

Technical Specification
Drive Unit for Laboratory Fermenters 7-25 L

MATERIAL
Cabinet: Stainless steel Tubing: Acid resistant stainless steel Components: Mainly stainless steel, some brass/gunmetal
CONNECTION DATA AUX. AIR Conn.No. 8 Max. consumption 5 l/min free air
PROCESS GAS IN Conn.No. 10 Max. consumption 10 - 40 l/min free gas depending on vessel size
WATER Conn.No. 15 Max. consumption 20 l/min
STEAM Conn.No. 10 Rec. min capacity 15 kg/h
CLEAN STEAM Conn. No. 10 Rec. min capacity 3 kg/h (appr. 3 kg/batch culture)
DRAIN, WATER Conn. No. 15 Max. capacity 20 l/min
DRAIN, COND. Conn. No. 10 Max. capacity 1 l/min

ELECTRICITY Voltage (see below)
Max. consumption 2 kW
Gas filter, in Conn. No. 8 (TC)
Gas filter, out Conn. No. 8 (TC)
Vessel jacket, up Conn. No. 10 (Via special clamp conn.)
Vessel jacket, down Conn. No. 10 (Via special clamp conn.)
Reflux condenser, down Conn. No. 8 (TC)
Reflux condenser, up Conn. No. 8 (TC)
All connections for inlet supplies media are provided with female pipe thread type BSP. Can optionally be delivered with PTFE-connection hoses.

MEDIA REQUIREMENTS
AUXILIARY AIR Pressure 4-6 bar Dry, particle free
PROCESS GAS Pressure 2 bar Dry, oil-free, particle free
WATER Pressure 2-4 bar Particle free, max. temp. 5o below min. vessel control temp
STEAM Pressure 2 bar Dry, saturated, particle free
CLEAN STEAM Pressure 1.5 bar Dry, saturated, pyrogen free
DRAIN Free flow
ELECTRICITY Voltage 3x380V+N+G, 50 Hz Transient free, voltage stability +-5%