White Paper: Addressing the gassing rate in bioreactor upscaling

Common approaches in bioreactor scale-up use the gas flow coefficient (vvm) as criterion for the volumetric flow rates. Besides being usually the decisive parameter when it comes to scaling of the gassing rate, a defined vvm is frequently used in the context of process validation, and therefore considered essential for qualification. ZETA called the reliability of this parameter into question and evaluated the scaling competence of vvm in a study that was performed in the context of the commissioning of an upstream production plant.

This white paper, which focuses on the challenges of scaling the gassing rate across different bioreactor scales, follows up on the white paper "The Critical Role of Predictive Bioreactor Characterization in Pharmaceutical Process-based Upscaling" by presenting recent findings.