When it comes to bioreactors, it’s critical that the weight of nutrients
and waste materials are being accurately weighed to ensure the biological process operates as intended. A typical bioreactor consists of a variety of different parts, and it’s critically important that the flow rates of inputs and outputs are correctly controlled.
Key Considerations When Working with Bioreactors
The operating requirements depend on the bioreactor and process, but important considerations include:
- Maintaining the temperature required by the culture
- Providing mixing appropriate to the vessel and process
- Measuring and controlling additions and withdrawals where the process requires them
- Managing feed composition and contamination risks
- Managing byproduct accumulation and any waste-removal steps required by the process
Using Industrial Scales to Measure Bioreactors
Bioreactors are often cylindrical, ranging in size from liters to cubic meters, and are often made from stainless steel or glass. High precision industrial scales can monitor the mass of a bioreactor’s contents and changes during additions or withdrawals. When material enters and leaves at the same time, the vessel reading shows the net change. Measuring the individual streams requires separate measurements, such as weighing feed and collection containers. At Arlyn Scales, we’ve been developing industrial scales for more than 30 years, and serve all industries including organizations that utilize bioreactors.
Below are a few of the reasons many companies continue to look to Arlyn Scales for their industrial scales.
Custom Designed Scales for Wide Array of Industries
At Arlyn Scales, one of the ways that we differentiate ourselves from our competitors is in our ability to create custom designed scales for all types of industries. Depending on how your bioreactors are setup within your facility, we can develop a custom made scale that offers the exact features you need.
At Arlyn Scales, our primary goal is to ensure our customers are satisfied and this often involves working to develop custom models that are uniquely tailored to a certain set of specifications.
Weighing Single-Use and Stainless Steel Bioreactors
Bioreactor setups vary quite a bit from facility to facility, and the vessel type changes what you need from a scale. For single-use systems weighed on a platform, the scale must support the bag, its support structure, and any other equipment carried by the platform.
Rigid stainless vessels also add fixed weight that stays on the platform for every batch. Select a capacity that covers the complete supported assembly and the maximum contents. Taring subtracts the empty assembly’s weight from the displayed reading, but does not increase the scale’s capacity.
This is where our custom design work comes in. We can design the platform around your vessel and its support structure. At benchtop and pilot scale, our Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) scales offer fine readability for monitoring weight changes. The appropriate model depends on the total load and the smallest addition you need to measure. Agitation, vibration, and forces from connected tubing also need to be considered when assessing performance in the installed system.
For larger production vessels, we can discuss a load-cell weighing arrangement suited to the vessel supports and total load. The mounting design and installation requirements should be reviewed for the application.
Setpoint Controller
Another key feature of our industrial scales is our optional setpoint controller. This controller helps to automate a wide array of functions such as mixing, blending, filling, check weighing and inventory operations.
Configure weight-based setpoints to trigger outputs for filling or other process steps. With the appropriate interfaces and relays, these outputs can signal equipment such as feeders, solenoid valves, or motor controls when a selected weight condition is met. Available functions depend on the indicator and options selected.
Ultra Precision Scales
One of the features that we’re most excited about when it comes to our industrial scales is our Ultra Precision Scales, which are powered by our Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology which actually holds both US based and international patents. This unique technology allows us to create affordable scales that still feature precision capabilities even at high capacities.
SAW load cells use changes in an acoustic signal to measure applied load. For a bioreactor application, select a model with the capacity and readability needed for the complete vessel assembly and the weight changes being monitored.
Our SAW scales feature capacities from 10 lbs. up to 1000 lbs., giving our customers a wide array of highly accurate and reliable industrial scales for a wide array of needs.
Arlyn UpScale Touchscreen Indicator
At Arlyn Scales, we try to constantly look for ways to innovate to ensure we’re always offering the highest quality scales for our customers. One area that we thought was ready for a bit of innovation was the display indicator. For decades, all industrial scales had a simple digital indicator that had very few features other than displaying the weight of an object.
With the massive advancements in mobile technology, we thought it would be beneficial to combine the benefits of a tablet with the antiquated scale display. After a large amount of testing, we have come up with the Arlyn UpScale Touchscreen Indicator. This is a full-fledged Android tablet that features a 7” HD IPS touchscreen display so that you can take full advantage of all the various features of our industrial scales.
Our customers have been blown away by the versatility of this touchscreen. The molded enclosure includes a rubber gasket to help seal out moisture. An optional NEMA 4X stainless steel enclosure is also available. For additional protection, a Waterproof Clearlid Enclosure is also available. Select the enclosure for the installation’s exposure and cleaning requirements, and confirm compatibility with any chemicals used.
Reach Out to Arlyn Scales Today
As you can tell based on the many scale features that we’ve introduced over the years, we’re constantly doing everything we can to provide a scale that meets or exceeds the needs of each of our customers. Whether you’re looking for a scale for weighing bioreactors, or any other type of industrial scale, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team to learn more about any of our off the shelf or custom designed models. We can be reached toll free at 800-645-4301 or via the contact form on our website.
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