Shaken helical track bioreactors: Providing oxygen to high-density cultures of mammalian cells at volumes up to 1000 L by surface aeration with air

A new scalable reactor was developed by applying a novel mixing principle that allows the large-scale cultivation of mammalian cells simply with surface aeration using air owing to increased liquid–gas transfer compared to standard stirred-tank bioreactors. In the cylindrical vessels (50 mL–1500 L) with a helical track attached to the inside wall, the liquid moved upward onto the track as the result of orbital shaking to increase the liquid–gas interface area significantly. This typically resulted in a 5–10-fold improvement in the volumetric mass transfer coefficient (kLa). In a 1500-L helical track vessel with a working volume of 1000 L, a kLa of 10 h−1 was obtained at a shaking speed of 39 rpm. Cultivations of CHO cells in a shaken 55-L helical track bioreactor resulted in improved cell growth profiles compared to control cultures in standard systems. These results demonstrated the possibility of using these new bioreactors at scales of 1000 L or more.