Weighing module for continuous cultures (Chemostat)

The LAMBDA weighing module (article number 800800) for LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactors is used for continuous culture methods such as chemostat and perfusion.

Reliable continuous culture experiments optimize the experiments faster, at lower cost and increases the productivity.

LAMBDA MINIFOR CHEMOSTAT: the weighing module (art.n° 800800) is simply placed under the bioreactor.

How does a chemostat culture work in a bioreactor?

Chemostat is a continuous microorganism culture method where the media with cells in a bioreactor vessel

  • is fed continuously with fresh medium at the same flow rate as
  • used media with cells get removed and
  • the working weight (media & cells in the bioreactor) stays constant by help of a LAMBDA weighing module.

In a chemostat, the specific growth rate of the microorganism is determined by the flow rate of the medium feed resp. harvest.
Choosing the flow rate of the feed and harvest pumps depends on the dilution rate (D). Because, the factor that determines the growth rate in chemostat is the dilution rate, i.e. the rate of supply of the limiting nutrient. At steady state, the specific growth rate (μ) of the micro-organism is equal to the dilution rate (D).

Chemostat = LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactor + Feed Pump + Harvest Pump + Weighing module

(Speed of Feed Pump = Speed of Harvest Pump = Growth rate)

LAMBDA MINIFOR CHEMOSTAT bioreactor with automatic weight control

LAMBDA MINIFOR CHEMOSTAT offers continuous culturing with highly reliable feed, harvest peristaltic pumps and constant automatic weight control (chemostat):

  • The weighing module can be placed readily under the front part of LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactor, to control the weight and consequently the amount of culture
  • Weight control is independent of agitation, aeration, gas uptake, pressure, temperature and foaming
  • Peristaltic pumps with constant and reproducible flow rates for several weeks, without the risk of tubing rupture in long term continuous cultures
  • Easy sterility maintenance concept for long continuous runs (chemostat, turbidostat, perfusion)

LAMBDA Weighing Module for continuous cultures

The capability to run weight-controlled continuous processes is an important quality of advanced bioreactor system. Therefore, all the LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactors are electronically prepared for the reception of an inexpensive scale module, which allows running a high-quality continuous culture with constant culture weight control independent of agitation, aeration, gas uptake, pressure, foaming and temperature. The LAMBDA weighing module is an extremely compact, precise and easy to use device, which could be used for continuous fermentation and cell cultures.

The amount of medium in the LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactor vessel can be kept constant by a special weighing module placed under the front edge of the instrument. The feed and harvest pump will automatically maintain the weight of the culture constant.

The peristaltic pumps (LAMBDA PRECIFLOW, MULTIFLOW, HiFLOW, MAXIFLOW or MEGAFLOW) can be chosen according to the growth rate and dilution rate of the culture. The flow rate of the peristaltic pump can be calibrated in terms of weight (g/min) or volume (ml/min).

The weighing module allows the selection of an optimal measuring weight range according to the vessel, instrumentation and medium volume used.

LAMBDA MINIFOR CHEMOSTAT