Stirred-Tank Bioreactors

Stirred-Tank Bioreactor (STR) is the most widely used type of bioreactor in the field of biotechnology, mainly used in microbial fermentation, animal/plant cell culture, enzyme catalytic reaction and other processes. It achieves mixing, mass transfer and heat transfer in the reaction system through mechanical stirring, and is suitable for efficient control of various biological reactions.Text Text Text

Application Areas

  • Microbial fermentation: production of antibiotics (such as penicillin), recombinant proteins, organic acids, etc.
  • Mammalian cell culture: production of vaccines (such as the new crown vaccine) and monoclonal antibodies.
  • Plant cell culture: large-scale production of secondary metabolites (such as paclitaxel).
    Enzyme engineering: immobilized enzyme catalytic reactions (such as lipase synthesis of biodiesel).
  • Waste treatment: aerobic fermentation to degrade organic wastewater.

Advantages:
– Mature process, clear amplification strategy (based on geometric similarity, constant kLa, etc.).
– Precise parameter control (online regulation of temperature, pH, DO).
– Wide applicability, adaptable to different scales (laboratory 5L → industrial 20,000L).

Challenges:
– High shear force may damage sensitive cells (need to optimize stirring rate or use microcarriers instead).
– High energy consumption (especially large-scale high-viscosity systems).
– High complexity of foam control and aseptic operation.