Lattice-Shell Static Mixer for Low-Shear Biopharma Mixing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional static mixers are unsuitable for biopharmaceutical compositions as they cause excessive shear stress, potentially damaging living cells or other components within the fluids.
Innovation Solution
A static mixer design featuring a lattice-structured shell and core configuration that minimizes shear stress, allowing for thorough mixing of biopharmaceutical compositions without causing damage, with customizable and modular components for various applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional static mixers are used to mix biopharmaceutical compositions, then mixing efficiency is improved, but shear stress on living cells exceeds acceptable levels causing damage
Solution Approach 1:
The static mixer is divided into multiple mixing sections with progressively smaller diameters. Each section creates gentler turbulence appropriate for its stage of mixing, avoiding the excessive single-stage turbulence of conventional mixers. This segmented approach achieves thorough mixing while limiting peak shear stress levels that would damage living cells.
Solution Approach 2:
The mixer geometry parameters are specifically optimized with diameter ratios between sections constrained to 0.5-0.8 and expansion ratios controlled at 0.2-0.5. These parameter changes create a gradient of mixing intensity that maintains effectiveness while protecting sensitive biopharmaceutical compositions from excessive shear stress.
2Speed
If turbulent mixing is induced to achieve homogeneous solution, then mixing speed is improved, but living cells are damaged or killed
Solution Approach 1:
The mixer creates preliminary gentle turbulence in upstream sections to initiate mixing before fluids reach the high-velocity core region. This preliminary action begins the homogenization process early, allowing subsequent sections to complete mixing with less intense turbulence, thereby preserving cell viability while maintaining mixing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The mixer introduces radial expansion and contraction dimensions to the flow path, creating multi-dimensional fluid motion. This dimensional change enhances mixing efficiency through radial velocity components and flow redistribution, achieving homogeneous mixing without relying solely on high axial turbulence that would damage cells.
3Stability of the object's composition
If mixing intensity is increased to ensure thorough mixing, then homogeneity is improved, but shear stress threshold is exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing process is segmented across multiple sections with controlled diameter transitions. This segmentation distributes the mixing workload, achieving cumulative homogeneity through progressive mixing stages rather than single-intense turbulence, thereby maintaining solution homogeneity while keeping shear stress below damaging thresholds.
Solution Approach 2:
Each mixing section applies partial mixing action appropriate to its stage, with the cumulative effect of multiple sections achieving complete homogeneity. This distributed partial action approach avoids the excessive single-stage turbulence that would exceed shear stress thresholds while still ensuring thorough mixing.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The mixer effectively combines fluids while maintaining the integrity of biopharmaceutical compositions, ensuring the shear stress remains below a predetermined threshold, thereby preserving the viability of living cells and achieving homogeneous solutions.
Implementation Method 1
The static mixer induces intense turbulence in the fluids to cause mixing
Implementation Method 2
The shear stress experienced by fluids mixed with static mixers may exceed a level the biopharmaceutical composition can withstand without damage
Data Source
AI summary
A static mixer for use with biopharmaceutical compositions includes a shell and a core. The shell defines a flow channel therethrough. The shell is formed as a lattice structure that defines a plurality of voids in fluid communication with the flow channel. The core is disposed within the flow channel of the shell. The core is configured to mix a first fluid and a second fluid together as the first fluid and the second fluid flow through the flow channel. The first fluid or the second fluid is a biopharmaceutical composition.