Bioreactor exhaust assembly and biological reaction system

Abstract

The utility model relates to exhaust of a bioreactor, and provides an exhaust assembly of the bioreactor and a biological reaction system. The bioreactor exhaust assembly comprises a condenser pipe, the condenser pipe is provided with an inlet end and an outlet end, and the inlet end is used for being connected with a reaction container of a bioreactor; the condensate water container comprises a closed container main body, the top of the container main body is provided with an air inlet interface and an air outlet interface, and the outlet end of the condensation pipe is connected with the air inlet interface; each air filter is connected with the air outlet connector of the condensate water container, and an air path on-off device is arranged on a pipeline between at least one air filter and the condensate water container. The utility model mainly solves the technical problem that an exhaust pipeline of a bioreactor is easy to generate condensed water to block an air filter.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to an exhaust component of a bioreactor and a bioreaction system. Background Art

[0002] During cell culture using a bioreactor, a certain culture temperature needs to be maintained, which is often higher than room temperature. For example, in some cases, the culture temperature needs to be kept stable at around 37°C. In addition, when using a bioreactor, an air inlet line is often connected to the reaction vessel to introduce gas into the reaction vessel, and an exhaust line is connected to exhaust gas synchronously. In order to prevent the reaction vessel from being contaminated by the exhaust line, an air filter is installed at the end of the exhaust line, and the filter pore size is very small, often reaching 0.2μm.

[0003] However, culture medium is added to the reaction vessel of the bioreactor. Due to the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the bioreactor, the gas in the reaction vessel also contains water vapor. When the gas is discharged through the exhaust pipe, the exhaust pipe at room temperature is at a lower temperature, and condensed water is easily formed inside, which causes the 0.2μm air filter connected to the end of the exhaust pipe to become blocked, which can easily lead to an increase in pressure in the tank, thereby affecting the air intake and increasing the risk of unsuccessful cell culture.

[0004] In order to avoid the problem of condensed water blocking the air filter, a condensing device is currently installed on the exhaust pipe, such as a high-efficiency exhaust gas condensing device disclosed in the Chinese utility model patent with the authorization announcement number CN212700621U. However, this type of condensing device is expensive and requires maintenance, which will also increase the use cost and labor cost, and is not suitable for smaller-scale reactions. Utility Model Content

[0005] The utility model mainly solves the technical problem that the exhaust pipeline of the bioreactor is prone to produce condensed water and block the air filter.

[0006] In a first aspect, the utility model provides a bioreactor exhaust assembly.

[0007] A bioreactor exhaust assembly, comprising:

[0008] A condenser, the condenser having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end being used to connect to a reaction vessel of a bioreactor;

[0009] A condensed water container, the condensed water container comprising a closed container body, an air inlet interface and an air outlet interface being provided on the top of the container body, and the outlet end of the condensation pipe being connected to the air inlet interface;

[0010] And at least two air filters, each of which is connected to the air outlet interface of the condensate container, and an air circuit breaking device is provided on the pipeline between at least one of the air filters and the condensate container.

[0011] In one technical solution, it includes a terminal exhaust pipe and a connecting joint, wherein the terminal exhaust pipe is connected between one of the interfaces of the connecting joint and the air outlet interface of the condensate container, and each of the air filters is connected to the corresponding interface of the connecting joint through a branch pipeline; or, more than two air outlet interfaces are provided on the condensate container, and each of the air filters is connected to the corresponding air outlet interface through a corresponding pipeline.

[0012] In a technical solution, at least one of the branch pipelines is an inclined pipeline, and one end of the inclined pipeline close to the air filter is located higher than the other end.

[0013] In a technical solution, the terminal exhaust pipe is a non-metallic pipe.

[0014] In a technical solution, at least one pipeline between the air filter and the condensed water container has an inclined portion, and one end of the inclined portion close to the air filter is higher than the other end.

[0015] In a technical solution, the gas circuit opening and closing device is a pipe clamp, and the pipe clamp can be removed from the pipeline.

[0016] In a technical solution, the condenser is a PE tube, and the length of the condenser is not less than 45 cm.

[0017] In a technical solution, the condenser tube is an arc-shaped structure, which is used for allowing the condensed water to flow along the arc toward the condensed water container.

[0018] In a technical solution, the air inlet interface of the condensate container is connected to a plug-in tube inserted into the condensate container, the length of the plug-in tube is no more than 1 / 2 of the depth of the condensate container, and the lower end surface of the plug-in tube is arranged at an angle relative to the axial direction of the plug-in tube.

[0019] In a second aspect, the utility model provides a biological reaction system.

[0020] A bioreactor system, comprising:

[0021] A reaction container, the reaction container is used to contain reactants, and the reaction container is provided with a first gas interface and a second gas interface;

[0022] An air intake assembly, the air intake assembly being connected to the first gas interface and being used for supplying gas to the reaction container;

[0023] And a bioreactor exhaust component, wherein the bioreactor exhaust component is the bioreactor exhaust component described in any of the above technical solutions, and the condenser of the bioreactor exhaust component is connected to the second gas interface of the reaction container.

[0024] Beneficial effects of the utility model:

[0025] By setting up a condensation water container, the gas in the reaction container of the bioreactor can realize condensation of water vapor after passing through the condenser tube, and the formed condensed water can enter and be stored in the condensation water container to realize separation of gas and liquid. At the same time, the gas outlet interface on the condensation water container can supply gas to be discharged to the air filter, and more than two air filters can improve reliability. Even if water vapor condenses again on the pipeline between the air filter and the condensation water container, the spare air filter can be switched through the air circuit switching device, thereby improving or avoiding the problem of condensation water in the exhaust pipeline and clogging the air filter. In addition, there is no need to set up a condensation device, with high reliability and low cost, which is conducive to avoiding unsuccessful cell culture. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of an embodiment of the biological reaction system in the utility model;

[0027] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 for Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] List of feature names corresponding to the reference numerals in the figure:

[0030] 100, reaction container; 110, feed interface; 121, first gas interface; 122, second gas interface; 120, internal air inlet pipe;

[0031] 200, air intake assembly; 210, air intake connecting pipe; 220, air intake filter;

[0032] 300, exhaust assembly; 310, condenser; 320, condensate container; 321, air inlet interface; 322, air outlet interface; 323, plug-in tube; 330, terminal exhaust pipe; 340, connecting joint; 351, branch pipeline; 352, parallel pipeline; 360, air filter; 370, air path opening and closing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The present invention is further described in detail below by specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Wherein similar elements in different embodiments adopt associated similar element numbers. In the following embodiments, many detailed descriptions are intended to enable the present application to be better understood. However, those skilled in the art can easily recognize that some of the features can be omitted in different situations, or can be replaced by other elements, materials, and methods. In some cases, some operations related to the present application are not shown or described in the specification, in order to avoid the core part of the present application being overwhelmed by too much description, and for those skilled in the art, it is not necessary to describe these related operations in detail, and they can fully understand the related operations based on the description in the specification and the general technical knowledge in the art.

[0034] In addition, the features, operations or characteristics described in the specification can be combined in any appropriate manner to form various implementations. At the same time, the steps or actions in the method description can also be interchanged or adjusted in a manner that is obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the various sequences in the specification and the drawings are only for the purpose of clearly describing a certain embodiment and are not meant to be a required sequence, unless otherwise specified that a certain sequence must be followed.

[0035] The serial numbers of the components in this document, such as "first", "second", etc., are only used to distinguish the objects described and do not have any order or technical meaning. The "connection" and "coupling" mentioned in this application, unless otherwise specified, include direct and indirect connections (couplings).

[0036] In an embodiment of the utility model, by providing a condenser 310 and a condensation water container 320, water vapor discharged from the reaction container 100 of the bioreactor can enter the condensation water container 320 after condensation through the condenser 310, and by providing more than two air filters 360, the problem of a single air filter 360 being blocked and affecting ventilation can be avoided, thereby avoiding the resulting culture termination, with good reliability, no need to provide a special condensation device, and low cost.

[0037] Embodiment of the biological reaction system in the utility model:

[0038] Please refer to Figure 1 The bioreactor system includes a reaction container 100 , an air intake component 200 and an air exhaust component 300 .

[0039] In one embodiment, the reaction vessel 100 is a cylindrical structure, which is used to form an environment required for cell culture, such as accommodating culture fluid, maintaining a certain reaction temperature, and supplying gas. For ease of use, in a specific embodiment, a feed interface 110 can be provided on the top surface of the reaction vessel 100, and the number of the feed interface 110 can be more than two, so as to facilitate the replenishment of corresponding materials. The shape and specific structure of the above-mentioned reaction vessel 100 are not limited, and various suitable reaction vessels 100 in the prior art can be used, which will not be described in detail here.

[0040] In order to achieve gas circulation and ensure the smooth progress of cell culture, in one embodiment, a first gas interface 121 and a second gas interface 122 are provided on the top surface of the reaction container 100. The first gas interface 121 is connected to the air intake component 200 for supplying gas to the reaction container 100, and the second gas interface 122 is connected to the exhaust component 300 for achieving exhaust gas discharge.

[0041] It should be noted that, in some other embodiments, the positions of the first gas interface 121 and the second gas interface 122 on the reaction container 100 can also be adjusted to ensure normal gas supply and exhaust. For example, the first gas interface 121 for gas intake is arranged on the bottom surface of the reaction container 100, or on the side of the reaction container 100, and the second gas interface 122 for exhaust can also be arranged on the side of the reaction container 100.

[0042] In one embodiment, the air intake assembly 200 includes an air intake connecting pipe 210 and an air intake filter 220. One end of the air intake connecting pipe 210 is connected to the air intake filter 220, and the other end is connected to the interior of the reaction vessel 100. In order to facilitate gas circulation and provide good gas supply to the cells, the reaction vessel 100 is provided with an internal air intake pipe 120 extending to the bottom of the reaction vessel 100. The top of the internal air intake pipe 120 is provided with a joint, and the air intake connecting pipe 210 is connected to the joint. The internal air intake pipe 120 can be a stainless steel pipe.

[0043] The bioreactor exhaust assembly 300 includes a condenser pipe 310, a condensate container 320 and at least two air filters 360. The bioreactor exhaust assembly 300 is used to achieve exhaust and prevent the condensate generated during exhaust from clogging the air filter 360, which will be described in detail below.

[0044] In a specific embodiment, the condenser tube 310 of the bioreactor exhaust assembly 300 has an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end is used to connect to the reaction container 100 of the bioreactor, and the outlet end of the condenser tube 310 is connected to the condensed water container 320. Correspondingly, the condensed water container 320 includes a closed container body, and the top of the container body is provided with an air inlet interface 321 and an air outlet interface 322, and the air inlet interface 321 is connected to the condenser tube 310.

[0045] The above-mentioned condenser tube 310 can play the role of gas transportation, and more importantly, it can exchange heat with the external environment to condense the water vapor in the gas passing through the condenser tube 310. In a specific embodiment, the condenser tube 310 is a PE tube, and the length of the condenser tube 310 is not less than 45 cm. The use of a PE tube is conducive to avoiding internal environmental pollution, and the length of the condenser tube 310 is conducive to ensuring that the water vapor is fully condensed, minimizing or avoiding condensation in subsequent pipelines, so as to better avoid the air filter 360 from being blocked. In a specific embodiment, according to the reaction temperature and ambient temperature of the bioreactor under normal circumstances, the length of the condenser tube 310 can be 50 cm. Of course, in some other embodiments, the length and material of the condenser tube 310 can also be adjusted. When the condenser tube 310 can meet the condensation requirements, the length of the condenser tube 310 can also be less than 45 cm. For example, the condenser tube 310 can be a stainless steel tube, which can use its higher thermal conductivity to more effectively exchange heat with the indoor air of the laboratory and achieve full condensation at room temperature.

[0046] The bioreactor requires a closed reaction environment to avoid contamination, therefore, the condensed water container 320 is a closed container and is provided with an air inlet interface 321 and an air outlet interface 322. In a specific embodiment, the condensed water container 320 may be a bottle body with an opening, a bottle cap is provided at the opening of the bottle body, the bottle cap is sealed and connected to the bottle body, and the bottle cap may be provided with an air inlet interface 321 and an air outlet interface 322. The provision of the bottle cap facilitates the discharge of the condensed water, and in some other embodiments, the condensed water container 320 may also be an integrally formed structure, and a drain valve may be provided at the bottom for discharging the condensed water.

[0047] The condenser tube 310 may be a hose with an uncertain shape or a hard tube with a certain shape. In a specific embodiment, the condenser tube 310 may be an arc-shaped structure, for allowing the condensed water to flow along the arc to the condensed water container 320, so as to facilitate the smooth flow of the condensed water and avoid the situation where the condensed water is collected in the condenser tube 310. The condenser tube 310 may also be arranged as a hose with an arc-shaped structure, for example, when in use, the condenser tube is formed into an arc-shaped structure by adjusting the connection position and the corresponding bracket.

[0048] In a specific embodiment, the air inlet interface 321 of the condensed water container 320 is connected to a plug-in tube 323 inserted into the condensed water container 320. The length of the plug-in tube 323 is no more than 1 / 2 of the depth of the condensed water container 320, so as to avoid the backflow phenomenon and increase the risk of cell culture failure. The gas entering the condensed water container 320 can be discharged from the air outlet interface 322 after diffusing inside the condensed water container 320, thereby extending the gas transmission path, and further condensing the gas by using the height direction space of the condensed water container 320, which can better reduce the formation of condensed water in the pipeline after the container. The lower end surface of the plug-in tube 323 is arranged to be inclined relative to the axial direction of the plug-in tube 323, forming a wedge-shaped structure, which is more conducive to the discharge of condensed water.

[0049] There may be more than two air filters 360, and each air filter 360 is arranged in parallel. In one embodiment, two air filters 360 are provided, and they are consistent with the air intake filter 220, and both use 0.2 μm air filters 360, each air filter 360 is connected to the air outlet interface 322 of the condensed water container 320, and an air circuit breaker 370 is provided on the pipeline between at least one air filter 360 and the condensed water container 320.

[0050] In a specific embodiment, please refer to Figure 1 The pipeline between the air filter 360 and the condensed water container 320 includes a terminal exhaust pipe 330 and a connecting joint 340. The connecting joint 340 is a three-way joint. The terminal exhaust pipe 330 is connected between the first interface of the connecting joint 340 and the air outlet interface 322 of the condensed water container 320. Each air filter 360 is connected to the second and third interfaces of the connecting joint 340 through a branch pipeline 351. The three-way structure can make the pipeline of the air filter 360 more concise, and two air filters 360 can share a section of the pipeline, thereby saving the pipeline.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 2 In a specific embodiment, more than two air outlet interfaces 322 may be provided on the condensed water container 320, and each air filter 360 is connected to the corresponding air outlet interface 322 through a corresponding parallel pipeline 352. Although this structure will increase the number of pipelines, there will be no interference between the parallel pipelines 352 connected to each air filter 360. When more condensed water appears in the parallel pipeline 352 connected to one of the air filters 360, it will not affect other parallel pipelines 352, and the reliability is better. In some other embodiments, two air outlet interfaces 322 can be formed by providing a three-way joint on the condensed water container 320.

[0052] In order to prevent water vapor condensation in the end exhaust pipe 330 and eventually cause the air filter 360 to be blocked, in one embodiment, please refer to Figure 3At least one branch pipe 351 is an inclined pipe, and the end of the inclined pipe connected to the air filter 360 is higher than the other end. In this way, even if condensed water accumulates in the branch pipe 351, the condensed water can flow back to the condensed water container 320 along the inclined pipe instead of flowing to the air filter 360 and causing blockage.

[0053] It should be noted that the air flow rate and flow velocity in the bioreactor are relatively small, so the air flow introduced does not have a significant impact on the flow of condensed water in the pipeline.

[0054] Furthermore, the terminal exhaust pipe 330 may be a non-metallic pipe, which is beneficial to better avoid condensation in the pipe section and prevent the air filter 360 from being blocked and causing the culture to be terminated. The length of the terminal exhaust pipe 330 may be arranged according to the distance between the air filter 360 and the condensation water container 320. To facilitate the installation of the air filter 360, in some embodiments, the terminal exhaust pipe 330 is not less than 16 cm, for example, it may be 20 cm.

[0055] In the case where the end exhaust pipe 330 is not provided and each air filter 360 is respectively connected to the condensate container 320, the pipeline between at least one air filter 360 and the condensate container 320 has an inclined arrangement portion, and the end of the inclined arrangement portion close to the air filter 360 is higher than the other end.

[0056] In order to achieve the inclined arrangement of the pipeline between the air filter 360 and the condensed water container 320, the bioreactor exhaust assembly 300 may further include a support frame, and the air filter 360 may be mounted on the support frame. When the pipeline between the air filter 360 and the condensed water container 320 is a hard pipe, the inclination of the pipeline may also be achieved by relying on the strength of the pipeline itself.

[0057] Since the condensation water container 320 and the condensation tube 310 are provided, most of the condensation of water vapor can be avoided. However, due to different ventilation volumes, different culture temperatures, different culture durations and other factors, the air filter 360 may still have a certain risk of being blocked. In order to better avoid this problem, an air path opening and closing device 370 is provided on the pipeline between at least one air filter 360 and the condensation water container 320. When one of the air filters 360 is blocked, the air filter 360 can be quickly cut in without disassembling the pipeline to avoid exposure of the internal environment.

[0058] In a specific embodiment, the gas circuit on-off device 370 is a pipe clamp, which is a commonly used device in the art. The pipe clamp can clamp the corresponding pipeline to close the inner cavity of the pipeline, thereby changing the on-off state of the pipeline, and can easily remove and clamp other pipelines, which is convenient for switching and low in cost. Of course, in some other embodiments, the gas circuit on-off device 370 can also be a valve, and valves can be set on the pipelines corresponding to each air filter 360.

[0059] When the above-mentioned biological reaction system is in operation, as shown by the arrows in the figure, the gas enters the reaction container 100 from the air intake assembly 200, and the exhaust gas is discharged from the second gas interface 122 of the reaction container 100 to the condensate container 320 through the condenser 310, and then discharged from the condensate container 320 through the terminal exhaust pipe 330, the connecting joint 340, the branch pipeline 351 and the air filter 360, or directly discharged from the condensate container 320 through the corresponding parallel pipeline 352 from the air filter 360. During the gas discharge process, most of the water vapor condenses into condensed water through the condenser 310 and gathers in the condensed water container 320, and can further condense on the inner wall of the condensed water container 320 when conditions are suitable. Even if there is a little condensation in the pipeline between the air filter 360 and the condensed water container 320, the air filter 360 will basically not be blocked due to the small amount of condensed water. In the special case where there is a little more condensed water, in addition to relying on the inclined pipeline backflow, even if the air filter 360 is blocked, it can also quickly switch to other parallel air filters 360 to ensure the continuation of the cultivation process.

[0060] An embodiment of a bioreactor exhaust assembly in the utility model:

[0061] The structure of the bioreactor exhaust assembly is the same as the structure of the bioreactor exhaust assembly 300 in any of the above-mentioned embodiments of the bioreactor system, and will not be described in detail here.

[0062] The above specific examples are used to illustrate the present invention, which are only used to help understand the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art of the present invention, some simple deductions, deformations or substitutions can be made based on the idea of ​​the present invention.

Claims

1. A bioreactor exhaust assembly, characterized in that: include: A condenser, the condenser having an inlet end and an outlet end, the inlet end being used to connect to a reaction vessel of a bioreactor; A condensed water container, the condensed water container comprising a closed container body, an air inlet interface and an air outlet interface being provided on the top of the container body, and the outlet end of the condensation pipe being connected to the air inlet interface; And at least two air filters, each of which is connected to the air outlet interface of the condensate container, and an air circuit breaking device is provided on the pipeline between at least one of the air filters and the condensate container.

2. The bioreactor exhaust assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that It includes a terminal exhaust pipe and a connecting joint, wherein the terminal exhaust pipe is connected between one of the interfaces of the connecting joint and the air outlet interface of the condensate container, and each of the air filters is connected to the corresponding interface of the connecting joint through a branch pipeline; or, more than two air outlet interfaces are provided on the condensate container, and each of the air filters is connected to the corresponding air outlet interface through a corresponding pipeline.

3. The bioreactor exhaust assembly of claim 2, wherein: At least one of the branch pipelines is an inclined pipeline, and one end of the inclined pipeline close to the air filter is located higher than the other end.

4. The bioreactor exhaust assembly according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The terminal exhaust pipe is a non-metallic pipe.

5. The bioreactor exhaust assembly of claim 1, wherein: At least one pipeline between the air filter and the condensed water container has an inclined portion, and one end of the inclined portion close to the air filter is higher than the other end.

6. The bioreactor exhaust assembly according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 5, characterized in that: The gas circuit on-off device is a pipe clamp, and the pipe clamp can be removed from the pipeline.

7. The bioreactor exhaust assembly according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 5, characterized in that: The condenser is a PE tube, and the length of the condenser is not less than 45 cm.

8. The bioreactor exhaust assembly according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 5, characterized in that: The condenser tube is an arc-shaped structure, and is used for allowing condensed water to flow along the arc toward the condensed water container.

9. The bioreactor exhaust assembly of claim 1 or 2 or 3 or 5, characterized in that: The air inlet interface of the condensate container is connected to a plug-in tube inserted into the condensate container, the length of the plug-in tube is no more than 1 / 2 of the depth of the condensate container, and the lower end surface of the plug-in tube is arranged to be inclined relative to the axial direction of the plug-in tube.

10. A bioreactor system, characterized in that: include: A reaction container, the reaction container is used to contain reactants, and the reaction container is provided with a first gas interface and a second gas interface; An air intake assembly, the air intake assembly being connected to the first gas interface and being used for supplying gas to the reaction container; and a bioreactor exhaust assembly, wherein the bioreactor exhaust assembly is the bioreactor exhaust assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 9, and a condenser of the bioreactor exhaust assembly is connected to the second gas interface of the reaction container.

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