Capillary Bioreactor
Project Summary
Capillary Bioreactors provide an efficient method of combining gas and liquid, such that reactions between the two mediums can be more evenly dispersed. In particular, this bioreactor was designed for simplicity, cost-efficiency, and optimization for 3D printing processes.
Project Details
This is a DesignHub project sponsored by the Deshusses lab with subject matter expertise and guidance provided by Luis Lopez.
This project is composed of a lid, a headpiece, four bars, and three perforated disks. These were printed and assembled using a 3D Systems DMP3600 though any other high-detail printer would work well.
The prints were completed on the MultiJet, and the hole sizes were made to be large enough such that wax removal was possible. Smaller sizes had been attempted and the wax was unremovable.
Assembly requires the use of the capillary tubes in order to ensure that the disks are aligned properly.
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a) Two holes at the top are for entry tubes. One of which is the gaseous medium, and the other of which is an entry for a liquid medium.
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b) The chamber located between the lid and the rest of the top allows for air and liquid to mix prior to entering the capillary tubes.
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c) A tongue and groove joint was used to provide more connectivity between the sidebars and the disks. Without such a joint, the side-bars were falling off.
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d) The disks themselves contain 40 holes, of radius 0.878mm.
