Using CFD to improve bioreactor scale-up and scale-down models

Pfizer joins up with M-Star to investigate bioprocess scale-up challenges, focusing on factors like geometric variability and nutrient gradients. Using advanced computational fluid dynamics, it characterizes the Ambr® 250 bioreactor, revealing insights into agitation dynamics and mass transfer. The findings validate computational fluid dynamics for understanding bioreactor hydrodynamics and emphasize the importance of considering free-surface transfer mechanics for accurate scale-down model qualification in mammalian bioprocess development.