Application Background
With the continuous development of biopharmaceutical manufacturing, vaccine production, cell culture, and microbial fermentation technologies, bioreactors have become critical production equipment that require increasingly precise process control. During the cultivation process, parameters such as internal vessel pressure, inlet and outlet pipeline pressure, and gas supply pressure directly affect cell growth conditions, gas-liquid transfer efficiency, and overall process stability.
The bioreactor system in this case is mainly used in biopharmaceutical production. Through aseptic cultivation and metabolic reactions of culture media, it enables the large-scale production of target products. Due to the strict requirements for hygiene standards, aseptic control, and process stability in bioprocessing, pressure measurement instruments must not only provide high accuracy and long-term reliability but also meet hygienic installation requirements to minimize contamination risks.
Process Measurement Requirements and Application Challenges
During bioreactor operation, the pipeline system usually involves multiple processes, including culture medium transfer, air/oxygen supply, exhaust gas discharge, and CIP/SIP cleaning and sterilization. Real-time pressure monitoring helps determine the operating status of the system, regulate gas supply pressure, and ensure safe operation within the designed pressure range.
The main challenges in this application include:
1. High Hygiene Requirements to Prevent Contamination Risks
Biological cultivation processes require extremely clean operating environments. The wetted parts of pressure instruments that come into contact with process media or pipelines must have excellent hygienic performance, minimizing dead zones and residual materials while supporting frequent cleaning and sterilization procedures.
2. Significant Temperature Variations During Cleaning and Sterilization
Bioreactors typically undergo CIP (Clean-in-Place) and SIP (Sterilization-in-Place) processes. During these procedures, equipment may experience high-temperature steam sterilization, rapid heating and cooling cycles, and other challenging conditions, placing higher demands on the sealing performance, temperature resistance, and long-term reliability of pressure transmitters.
3. Accurate Response to Small Pressure Variations
During cell cultivation, the pressure inside the tank is usually maintained within a relatively low range. However, small pressure fluctuations may affect gas exchange efficiency and cultivation conditions. Therefore, the pressure instrument must provide high sensitivity and stable output performance.
Solution
To meet the pressure monitoring requirements of the bioreactor and pipeline system, the LEEG SMP858 Hygienic Pressure Transmitter is installed at critical pressure measurement points.
The SMP858 adopts advanced pressure sensing technology combined with a hygienic structural design. It can be installed on bioreactor gas inlet pipelines, circulation pipelines, and process transfer pipelines to achieve real-time monitoring of pressure changes.
In terms of structural design, the transmitter adopts a fully sealed welded wetted-part structure, effectively reducing the risk of media residue. The hygienic process connection supports common clamp-type installation methods used in biopharmaceutical industries, allowing convenient installation, removal, and maintenance while meeting the requirements of clean process piping systems.
Meanwhile, the SMP858 features excellent temperature compensation performance, maintaining stable measurement output during temperature fluctuations in cultivation processes and sterilization cycles, providing reliable data support for automated process control systems.
Product Application Configuration
Application Equipment:
Bioreactor / Fermentation Tank System
Monitoring Locations:
• Pressure monitoring of bioreactor process pipelines
• Pressure monitoring of gas supply pipelines
• Pressure monitoring of circulation transfer pipelines
• Pressure monitoring of exhaust and tail gas treatment pipelines
Applied Product:
SMP858 Hygienic Pressure Transmitter
Main Features:
• Hygienic structural design suitable for clean process environments
• High-stability pressure measurement for continuous operation requirements
• Multiple hygienic process connection options available
• Fully sealed welded structure to reduce media residue risks
• Supports 4-20mA and HART communication signals
• Suitable for pressure measurement applications in biopharmaceutical, food & beverage, and fermentation industries
Application Results
By installing the SMP858 Hygienic Pressure Transmitter, the bioreactor system can achieve continuous monitoring of critical pressure parameters and transmit real-time data to the control system for automated process adjustment.
During cultivation, operators can adjust gas supply, agitation conditions, and exhaust control parameters according to pressure variations, improving process controllability. At the same time, stable and reliable pressure measurement helps reduce abnormal fluctuations and improve batch-to-batch production consistency.
This solution provides a hygienic pressure monitoring approach for bioreactor systems and can be widely applied in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, vaccine production, cell culture, fermentation engineering, and other process equipment, providing reliable data support for intelligent production and advanced process control.
