FLUID DISTRIBUTOR UNIT

• US 20120074051A1
• Filed: 05/24/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cytiva Sweden AB (Danaher Corporation)
• Original Assignee: GE Healthcare Bio-Sciences AB (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Gebauer, Klaus, Kranse, Jan, Lundkvist, Mats
• Granted Patent: US 11,143,636 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 210/198.2
• CPC Class Codes: B01D 15/14 relating to the introduction of the feed to the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 30/00 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 30/6017 Fluid distributors
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 137/87265 Dividing into parallel flow paths with recombining
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/494 Fluidic or fluid actuated device making

Abstract

A fluid distributor unit comprising a channel system where one or more inlet channels (2) starting on an inlet side (3) of the distributor unit branch out successively into several channels (6) ending on the other side of the distributor unit, called the outlet side (4), characterised in that said distributor unit is provided in one single body (1) by free form fabrication.

Claims

1. A sanitary fluid distributor unit for processing of biomacromolecules comprising a channel system where one or more inlet channels (2) starting on an inlet side (3) of the distributor unit branch out successively into several channels (6) ending on the other side of the distributor unit, called the outlet side (4), wherein said distributor unit is provided in one single body (1) by free form fabrication and that the channel system comprises curved channels.

2. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the channel system has two or more generations of branching.

3. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the maximum angle of curvature of the channels is more than 20 degrees, such as between 20 and 70 degrees.

4. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the average radius of curvature of the channels is less than 5 channel diameters and/or the minimum radius of curvature is above 0.25 channel diameters.

5. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein said unit comprises tapered channel segments (20,21,22,23,24,25).

6. The fluid distributor unit of claim 5, wherein the channel diameter decreases (20,22) from the inlet side of the unit.

7. The fluid distributor unit of claim 5, wherein at the outlet side, the channel diameter increases to form a set of conical or pyramidal diffusors (7).

8. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein all pathways from the inlet side (3) to the outlet side (4) have the same flow resistance.

9. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, comprising an integral filter (31) having average pore diameter below 30 microns.

10. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the roughness average Ra of the channel surfaces is less than 5 microns, such as less than 2.5 microns.

11. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the material of construction generates less than 1 mg/1 leachables in an extraction fluid.

12. The fluid distributor unit of claim 1, wherein the material of construction does not contain toxic leachables according to the USP VI standard.

13. A chromatography column equipped with the fluid distributor unit of claim 1.

14. The chromatography column of claim 13, wherein the column bed diameter is larger than 5 cm.

16. A method to prepare the fluid distributor unit of claim 1 by free form fabrication.

15. A method to prepare a sanitary fluid distributor unit for processing of biomacromolecules where said fluid distributor unit comprises a channel system with one or more inlet channels starting on an inlet side of the distributor unit, branching out successively into several curved channels and ending on the other side of the distributor unit, called the outlet side, characterized by providing said distributor unit in one single body through using free form fabrication.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising a step of modifying the channel surfaces.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of modifying the channel surfaces comprises applying a coating on the channel surfaces.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of modifying the channel surfaces comprises abrading the channel surfaces.

20. A method to prepare the fluid distributor unit of claim 15, further comprising communicating a design file from a computer assisted design (CAD) system to a computer-controlled free form fabrication system

21. A method to prepare the fluid distributor unit of claim 15, further comprising designing drawings in CAD and optimizing them using a computer software to simulate properties of the fluid flow in regard to distribution, residence time, hold-up volume, pressure loss or fluid velocity.