Assessment of a disc stack centrifuge for use in mammalian cell separation.

A prototype disc stack centrifuge was tested for the separation of mammalian cell cultures from 80- and 2000-L fermentations. The clarification capacity for mammalian cells was excellent, but some smaller particles remained in the supernatant and reduced its usefulness for downstream processing. In order to identify the source of such particle formation, several parameters were assessed and minimum particle size for separation was calculated. An analysis of particle distribution was performed. Temperature and pressure effects inside the centrifuge bowl were measured. Some modifications of mechanical engineering can be suggested for the improvement of the use of standard disc stack centrifuges for mammalian cells. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.