Bioflo 110 Fermentor - New Brunswick Scientific

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This system is also called: Bioreactor

Keywords: Fermentation, Anaerobic, Aerobic, Biprocessing

Purpose

New Brunswick's BioFlo 110 Modular Fermentor & Bioreactor controls conditions for growth of organisms, the expression of proteins, or lab-scale production of other bioproducts. The user can specify temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, agitation rate and other setpoints to be held constant through feedback loops between probes/sensors and heat blankets, pumps, and motors. These setpoints can be automatically varied on a program if supervisory control from a PC is enabled. This can be done through Biocommand software or open source software

The control towers and fermentation vessels are modular and therefore enable changeout and upgrading of certain parts, however Eppendorf has discontinued production of many of the parts.

Operation

An overview of operations is given here; https://www.che.utah.edu/undergraduate/projects_lab/modular_benchtop_fermentor/

Troubleshooting

Problem	Symptom (s)	Fundamental Cause (s)	Solution(s)
Drifting pH probe	Hard to get a steady reading upon calibration	Air bubbles may prevent contact between the the half cell and probe fluid	Check for bubbles at the tip of the probe. Carefully swing in circles with tip of probe outward to force bubbles toward the top of the probe. Alternatively, probe may need replacement.
Primary Control Unit not starting up fully	Partial or fully dead screen. Failure to fully boot up the PCU.	Weak connection at the power supply due to corrosion and possibly overheating if ran for long periods.	Check all connections in the PCU, especially to and from the power supply, for blackened/burnt wires or corrosion. Grind away anything that may impede a good connection.
Quick draining of connected gas tanks	Gas tanks drain much faster than expected by calculation. Hissing in the mass flow controller is louder than expected.	Leak in Mass flow controller.	Open up the mass flow controller and identify the point of leakage. Spraying with soap is an option but care for electrical connections should be taken.
Improper pH control	The pump module is operating but pH is not adeqautely adjusting	A clog in the buffer line. This is common for thin tubing where salting out of any pH adjustment solution could occur.	Try and break leak in the tubing, cut leak out of tube and rejoin tubing together, or replace tubing.
Failure to pump	Pump heads are rotating but fluid is not moving	Pump head may be out of alignment due to a breakage on the inside. This keeps the pump head from being able to exert pressure on the tubing.	Open the pump moduel and identify broken pieces. Super glue or replace broken parts.
Stuck pH probe	Cannot easily remove pH probe from port.	O-rings between the head-plate and the port adapter can compress and squeeze the pH probe.	Loosen the entire port adapter (not just the upper ring that tightens around the pH probe).
Headplate gasket failing to go on	The gasket pops off when trying to put the headplate back on the vessel	Often due to expansion of the headplate when hot (e.g. after removing from autoclave)	Allow headplate to cool

Maintenance

Maintenance Schedule

Action	Frequency	Who Performs?	Time to Complete
Replace pH probe storage solution	Monthly	User	5 min

Safety

Upgrades, Modifications, Hacks

The fermentation vessels are compatible with later control tower models, like the Bioflo 115.

Gas trapping

Filling a tall vessel in part with water, turning a graduate cylinder upside down in the water, and running a tube from the fermenter, up into the inverted graduated cylinder can allow for gas to be trapped and the volume of gas produced measured via the graduations on the cylinder (by measuring gas level before and after).

Manufacturer Information

The Bioflo 110 was originally manufactured under New Brunswick Scientific which has sense been bought by Eppendorf. Eppendorf no longer produces all accessories which are required by the Bioflo 110. Therefore cables and other replacement parts can be hard to find.