CLARIFICATION OF ANIMAL-CELL CULTURES ON A LARGE-SCALE BY CONTINUOUS CENTRIFUGATION

Animal cells from 80-L and 2000-L fed batch fermentations were removed by a prototype disc stack centrifuge in order to achieve a fast and r eliable separation of solids from large quantities of cell culture flu ids. The clarification capacity was excellent for animal cells but par ticles remained in the liquid phase and affected further downstream pr ocessing of the cell-free harvest fluid. No significant loss of produc t was observed. A number of parameters were monitored to optimize proc ess conditions for use with animal cells.