Cas 200 Alfa Laval New Version: How to Operate and Maintain a Hermetic Centrifuge
Cas 200 Alfa Laval New Version: A Steam-Sterilizable Hermetic Centrifuge for Biotechnological Industries
Introduction
Biotechnology is a rapidly growing field that involves the use of living organisms or their products to create or modify products, processes, or services. Biotechnology has applications in various sectors, such as healthcare, agriculture, food, energy, and environment. However, biotechnology also poses some challenges, such as the need to separate and purify complex biological products from fragile organisms without damaging their quality or functionality.
Cas 200 Alfa Laval New Version
One of the solutions to this challenge is the use of centrifuges, which are devices that use centrifugal force to separate different components of a mixture based on their density, size, shape, or viscosity. Centrifuges can be used to separate cells, cell debris, proteins, nucleic acids, viruses, and other biomolecules from various biological fluids or suspensions.
However, not all centrifuges are suitable for biotechnological applications. Some centrifuges may cause excessive shear stress or oxygen pick-up that can damage the biological products or reduce their yield. Some centrifuges may also be difficult to clean or sterilize, which can compromise the hygiene and safety of the process. Therefore, biotechnological industries need a centrifuge that can offer gentle separation, hermetic sealing, easy cleaning, and reliable sterilization.
In this article, we will introduce you to Cas 200 Alfa Laval New Version, a steam-sterilizable hermetic centrifuge designed for separation of mammalian and microbial cells as well as cell debris and suspended proteins at capacities up to 10 m/h. We will also explain the features and benefits of this centrifuge, how it works, how to operate and maintain it, and what are its applications in biotechnological industries.
What is Cas 200 Alfa Laval?
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval is a medium-sized member of the CLARA family of disc-stack centrifuges from Alfa Laval, a global leader in heat transfer, separation, and fluid handling solutions. The CLARA family consists of four models: CLARA 20 (0.5 m/h), CLARA 80 (4 m/h), CLARA 200 (10 m/h), and CLARA 400 (20 m/h). The CLARA family is designed for clarification duty, meaning that they separate particles from one liquid phase.
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval is a steam-sterilizable hermetic centrifuge that features a unique bottom feed design that gives gentle acceleration of shear-sensitive particles. It also has a hydro hermetic seal that ensures minimal oxygen pick-up in the clarified liquid. The Cas 200 Alfa Laval is equipped with SmartEject self-triggering system that provides intermittent discharge of solids that have a high dry matter content. The Cas 200 Alfa Laval is also designed for easy cleaning and sterilization with CIP (cleaning-in-place) and SIP (sterilization-in-place) procedures.
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval has a bowl speed of up to 10,000 rpm and a maximum g-force of up to 12,000 g. It has a bowl volume of 12 liters and a solids holding capacity of up to 4 liters. It has a motor power of up to 22 kW and a weight of about 1 ton. It has a footprint of about 1.5 m x 1 m and a height of about 1.8 m. It has main connections as sanitary clamps and all other utility connections of clamp type.
What are the features and benefits of Cas 200 Alfa Laval?
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval offers several features and benefits for biotechnological industries:
It provides gentle separation of mammalian and microbial cells as well as cell debris and suspended proteins without causing excessive shear stress or damage to the biological products. This improves the quality and yield of the downstream purification processes.
It ensures minimal oxygen pick-up in the clarified liquid by using a hydro hermetic seal at the inlet and outlet. This prevents oxidation or degradation of the biological products that may be sensitive to oxygen exposure.
It allows intermittent discharge of solids that have a high dry matter content by using SmartEject self-triggering system. This reduces the frequency and duration of discharges and increases the separation efficiency.
It simplifies the peripheral equipment and minimizes turbulence in the feed by having control valves on the outlet. This reduces the risk of foaming or emulsification that may affect the separation performance.
It enables easy cleaning and sterilization with CIP and SIP procedures by using sanitary clamps for all connections. This ensures hygiene and safety of the process and reduces downtime.
It allows variable frequency drive that makes it possible to have bowl speeds down to 80% of the maximum bowl speed. This gives flexibility in adjusting the separation parameters according to different process conditions.
It reduces cooling water consumption and noise level by using double-walled bowl casing. This saves energy and improves working environment.
It offers reliable operation and long service life by using high-quality materials and components. It also comes with spare parts and service support from Alfa Laval's global network.
What are the applications of Cas 200 Alfa Laval?
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval is suitable for most biotechnological separation duties that require clarification duty, gentle separation, low oxygen pick-up, intermittent discharge, easy cleaning, and reliable sterilization. Some examples of applications are:
Separation of mammalian cells from culture broth for production of monoclonal antibodies or recombinant proteins
Separation of microbial cells from fermentation broth for production of enzymes, vaccines, antibiotics, or biofuels
Separation of cell debris from lysate for recovery of intracellular proteins or nucleic acids
Separation of viruses from cell culture supernatant for production of viral vaccines or gene therapy vectors
Separation of proteins from whey or milk for production of dairy products or nutraceuticals
How does Cas 200 Alfa Laval work?
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval works on the principle of disc-stack centrifugation. The disc-stack centrifuge consists of a rotating bowl that contains a stack of conical discs that form annular chambers between them. The feed enters through a stationary inlet pipe at the bottom center of the bowl and is accelerated by an impeller into the rotating bowl. The feed then passes through holes in each disc into the annular chambers where it is subjected to centrifugal force. The heavier solid particles move radially outwards towards the bowl wall where they form a sediment layer. The lighter liquid phase moves radially inwards towards the center where it exits through an outlet pipe at the top center of the bowl. The sediment layer is periodically ejected through ports at the periphery of the bowl by opening sliding valves operated by hydraulic pistons.
The Cas 200 Alfa Laval has some unique features that differentiate it from other disc-stack centrifuges