Fluid mixing in a disposable fluid processing system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10589239-B2
Application number	US-201113808606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2011
Priority date	Jul 7, 2010
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

High accuracy mixing of fluids in a disposable fluid processing system with at least two pumps is provided by a method where a calibration fluid volume is pumped through each pump via a flow meter at at least one calibration pump speed while registering the flow rate using data output from the flow meter, a pump calibration function is calculated from the calibration pump speed and flow rate data and two or more operation fluids are mixed to a predetermined mixture ratio and predetermined flow rate by controlling the pump speed of the respective pumps in accordance with the pump calibration functions.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for conveying a mixture of at least two operation fluids to a receptacle in a disposable fluid processing system comprising a single flow meter, a first pump and a second pump, each pump being connected to at least one source of fluid, at least one pressure sensor and at least one throttle valve, said method comprising:
a) if the first pump and the second pump are linear, then pumping a first calibration fluid volume through the first pump and a second calibration fluid volume through the second pump via the single flow meter at a same calibration pump speed for the first pump and the second pump and registering a flow rate using data output from the single flow meter to calibrate the first pump and the second pump in relation to each other, wherein the first calibration fluid volume comprises one operation fluid of the at least two operation fluids and the second calibration fluid volume comprise the other operation fluid of the at least two operation fluids wherein the at least two operation fluids are different from each other, and if the first pump and the second pump are non-linear, then pumping the first calibration fluid volume and the second calibration fluid volume at a same range of a plurality of calibration pump speeds for the first pump and the second pump, and registering the flow rate using the data output from the single flow meter for each calibration pump speed in the range using data output from the single flow meter:
b) simulating a back pressure within a flow to said receptacle with said throttle valve while registering the flow rate for the first pump and the second pump, wherein an input of said pressure sensor is downstream from the first pump and the second pump and connected to an output of the first pump and an output of the second pump via a first valve of a system of valves; and
wherein an output of said pressure sensor is connected to an input of the throttle valve downstream from said pressure sensor and an output of the throttle valve is connected to the receptacle downstream from the throttle valve via a second valve of a system of valves forming a feedback loop therebetween to constrict the flow to a level where the pressure sensor indicates a predetermined back pressure;
c) calculating a pump calibration function for the first pump and for the second pump upon indication of the predetermined back pressure of the receptacle, the pump calibration function being a mathematical relationship between said same calibration pump speed and said flow rate; and
d) mixing the at least two operation fluids to a predetermined mixture ratio and predetermined flow rate by controlling the pump speed of the first pump and the second pump in accordance with said pump calibration functions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein before step a) the system of valves is controlled to disconnect said receptacle from the first pump and the second pump and before step d) said system of valves is controlled to connect said receptacle with the first pump and the second pump.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said receptacle is a chromatography column.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein in step d) said pump speeds are varied so as to form a gradient in the predetermined mixture ratio of the at least two operation fluids mixed.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising a step e] eluting said chromatography column with the at least two operation fluids mixed.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein one operation fluid of the at least two operation fluids comprises a buffer concentrate and another operation fluid of the at least two operation fluids is water or a buffer of a concentration different from a concentration of the operation fluid comprising the buffer concentrate.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first pump and the second pump are peristaltic pumps.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein all wetted parts of said disposable fluid processing system are disposable.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein all wetted parts of said disposable fluid processing system are sterilized.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the first pump and the second pump are non-linear, the throttle valve is arranged to simulate the back pressure in order to calculate the pump calibration functions for different back pressures.

Assignees

• Gebauer Klaus
• Fricking Patric
• Jaderlund Bjorn
• Ge Healthcare Bio Sciences Ab

Inventors

• Gebauer Klaus
• Fricking Patric
• Jaderlund Bjorn

Classifications

• B01D15/12

  relating to the preparation of the feed · CPC title

• G01N30/8658

  Optimising operation parameters · CPC title

• B01D15/166

  Fluid composition conditioning, e.g. gradient · CPC title

• B01D15/163

  Pressure or speed conditioning · CPC title

• G01N2030/347

  mixers · CPC title