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Biofouling in Membrane Bioreactors: Mechanism, Interactions and Possible Mitigation Using Biosurfactants. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 2023; 195:2114-2133. [PMID: 36385366 DOI: 10.1007/s12010-022-04261-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Biofouling roots damage to membrane bioreactors (MBRs), such as physical, functional and organisational changes and even therefore clogging of the membrane pores and successive microbial degradation. Further, it blocks the pores, results into a biomass cake and in due course reduces the membrane flux and leads to an increase in the operational costs. MBR fouling contributed to the rise in transmembrane pressure (TMP) and decrease in permeate flux (in case of constant pressure operation mode). Chemical surfactants adopted for the cleaning of membrane surfaces have certain disadvantages such as toxicity manifestations, damage to the membranes and high CMC concentrations. Biosurfactant surfactants have attained increasing interest due to their low toxicity, biodegradability, stability to extreme environmental conditions such as temperatures, pH and tolerance to salinity. The biosurfactants trapped the foulants via micelle formation, which distresses hydrophobic interactions amongst bacteria and the surface. Rhamnolipids as an anionic biosurfactant pose a significant interfacial potential and have affinity to bind organic matter. The present review discusses the problem of biofouling in MBRs, type and interactions of foulants involved and also highlights the mechanisms of biosurfactant cleaning, effect of different parameters, effect of concentration, TMP, flux recovery, permeability, mitigation practices and challenges.
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Du Z, Gill K, Toprani V, Zydney AL. Sterile filtration of a multi-serotype glycoconjugate vaccine drug product. Biotechnol Bioeng 2023; 120:1316-1322. [PMID: 36726046 DOI: 10.1002/bit.28342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Glycoconjugate vaccines consisting of multiple serotypes of the bacterial capsular polysaccharide can provide strong protection against infection by significant pathogens. Previous studies of the sterile filtration behavior of these glycoconjugates have been limited to experiments with individual serotypes even though the formulated vaccines contain several different serotypes to provide broad immunization. The objective of this study was to explore the fouling behavior of a glycoconjugate vaccine drug product consisting of four different polysaccharide serotypes. Sterile filtration data were obtained with 0.22 µm Durapore® membranes at both constant flux and constant pressure for both the individual serotypes and the drug product containing multiple serotypes. Fouled membranes were examined by confocal microscopy, demonstrating that all four serotypes deposit in a narrow band near the filter inlet. The different ionic composition of the formulation buffer (compared to the buffers used with the drug substance) had a large effect on the fouling behavior. In addition, the fouling resistance associated with the drug product was greater than the sum of the resistances of the individual serotypes. These results provide important insights into the sterile filtration behavior of these multivalent glycoconjugate vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuoshi Du
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Kanwaldeep Gill
- Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Pfizer Inc., Andover, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Vishal Toprani
- Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Pfizer Inc., Andover, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Andrew L Zydney
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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Leisi R, Rostami I, Laughhunn A, Bieri J, Roth NJ, Widmer E, Ros C. Visualizing protein fouling and its impact on parvovirus retention within distinct filter membrane morphologies. J Memb Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2022.120791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Du Z, Motevalian SP, Conde BC, Reilly K, Zydney AL. Scale-Up Issues During Sterile Filtration of Glycoconjugate Vaccines. Biotechnol Prog 2022; 38:e3260. [PMID: 35412686 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Several recent studies have provided important insights into the factors controlling the sterile filtration of glycoconjugate vaccines; however, this work has been limited to small-scale disk filters with very uniform flow distribution. The objective of this study was to examine the scale-up of the sterile filtration step using a glycoconjugate drug substance made from a single polysaccharide serotype. Experimental data were obtained during constant flux filtration through 0.22 μm Durapore® polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes, both with small discs and with the Opticap® XL2 pleated cartridge. The transmembrane pressure increased rapidly during the glycoconjugate filtration due to membrane fouling, with the rate of pressure increase being more pronounced in the pleated cartridge. Additional insights into the fouling behavior were obtained using confocal microscopy by in situ labeling of the glycoconjugate captured within the filter media using an Alexa Fluor fluorescent dye. Glycoconjugate deposition occurred only within the first 5-15 μm of the 0.22 μm Durapore® membrane at both scales, with more variability in the deposition pattern observed for the pleated filter due to the non-uniform flow distribution in the Opticap® XL2 cartridge. These results provide important insights into the underlying fouling behavior during sterile filtration of glycoconjugate vaccines as well as a framework for the scale-up of the sterile filter step in glycoconjugate biomanufacturing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuoshi Du
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
| | | | | | | | - Andrew L Zydney
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
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Johnson TF, Jones K, Iacoviello F, Turner S, Jackson NB, Zourna K, Welsh JH, Shearing PR, Hoare M, Bracewell DG. Liposome Sterile Filtration Characterization via X-ray Computed Tomography and Confocal Microscopy. MEMBRANES 2021; 11:membranes11110905. [PMID: 34832134 PMCID: PMC8620169 DOI: 10.3390/membranes11110905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 11/16/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Two high resolution, 3D imaging techniques were applied to visualize and characterize sterilizing grade dual-layer filtration of liposomes, enabling membrane structure to be related with function and performance. Two polyethersulfone membranes with nominal retention ratings of 650 nm and 200 nm were used to filter liposomes of an average diameter of 143 nm and a polydispersity index of 0.1. Operating conditions including differential pressure were evaluated. X-ray computed tomography at a pixel size of 63 nm was capable of resolving the internal geometry of each membrane. The respective asymmetry and symmetry of the upstream and downstream membranes could be measured, with pore network modeling used to identify pore sizes as a function of distance through the imaged volume. Reconstructed 3D digital datasets were the basis of tortuous flow simulation through each porous structure. Confocal microscopy visualized liposome retention within each membrane using fluorescent dyes, with bacterial challenges also performed. It was found that increasing pressure drop from 0.07 MPa to 0.21 MPa resulted in differing fluorescent retention profiles in the upstream membrane. These results highlighted the capability for complementary imaging approaches to deepen understanding of liposome sterilizing grade filtration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas F. Johnson
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Bernard Katz, London WC1E 6BT, UK; (T.F.J.); (M.H.)
| | - Kyle Jones
- Pall Corporation 5 Harbourgate Business Park, Southampton Road, Portsmouth PO6 4BQ, UK; (K.J.); (S.T.); (N.B.J.); (K.Z.); (J.H.W.)
| | - Francesco Iacoviello
- Electrochemical Innovation Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK; (F.I.); (P.R.S.)
| | - Stephen Turner
- Pall Corporation 5 Harbourgate Business Park, Southampton Road, Portsmouth PO6 4BQ, UK; (K.J.); (S.T.); (N.B.J.); (K.Z.); (J.H.W.)
| | - Nigel B. Jackson
- Pall Corporation 5 Harbourgate Business Park, Southampton Road, Portsmouth PO6 4BQ, UK; (K.J.); (S.T.); (N.B.J.); (K.Z.); (J.H.W.)
| | - Kalliopi Zourna
- Pall Corporation 5 Harbourgate Business Park, Southampton Road, Portsmouth PO6 4BQ, UK; (K.J.); (S.T.); (N.B.J.); (K.Z.); (J.H.W.)
| | - John H. Welsh
- Pall Corporation 5 Harbourgate Business Park, Southampton Road, Portsmouth PO6 4BQ, UK; (K.J.); (S.T.); (N.B.J.); (K.Z.); (J.H.W.)
| | - Paul R. Shearing
- Electrochemical Innovation Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, UK; (F.I.); (P.R.S.)
| | - Mike Hoare
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Bernard Katz, London WC1E 6BT, UK; (T.F.J.); (M.H.)
| | - Daniel G. Bracewell
- Department of Biochemical Engineering, University College London, Bernard Katz, London WC1E 6BT, UK; (T.F.J.); (M.H.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +44-20-7679-2374
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Du Z, Motevalian SP, Carillo-Conde B, Reilly K, Zydney AL. Prefiltration enhances performance of sterile filtration for glycoconjugate vaccines. Biotechnol Prog 2021; 37:e3180. [PMID: 34106522 DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have reported very low capacity during sterile filtration of glycoconjugate vaccines due to rapid fouling of the sterile filter. The objective of this study was to explore the potential for significantly increasing the capacity of the sterile filter through the use of an appropriate prefilter. Data were obtained using prefilters with different pore size and chemistry, with the sterile filtration performed at constant filtrate flux using 0.22 μm nominal pore size Durapore® polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. Prefiltration through 5 μm pore size Durapore® or Nylon prefilters nearly eliminated the fouling of the sterile filter, leading to more than a 100-fold reduction in the rate of pressure increase for the sterile filter. This dramatic improvement in sterile filter performance was due to the removal of large components (greater than 1 μm in size) as confirmed by dynamic light scattering. These results demonstrate the potential of using large pore size prefilters to significantly enhance the performance of the sterile filtration process for the production of important glycoconjugate vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuoshi Du
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | | - Brenda Carillo-Conde
- Conjugation and Polytide Process Development Group, Pfizer Inc., Chesterfield, Missouri, USA
| | | | - Andrew L Zydney
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
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Shim J, Park S, Cho KH. Deep learning model for simulating influence of natural organic matter in nanofiltration. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 197:117070. [PMID: 33831775 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Controlling membrane fouling in a membrane filtration system is critical to ensure high filtration performance. A forecast of membrane fouling could enable preliminary actions to relieve the development of membrane fouling. Therefore, we established a long short-term memory (LSTM) model to investigate the variations in filtration performance and fouling growth. For data acquisition, we first conducted lab-scale membrane fouling experiments to identify the diverse fouling mechanisms of natural organic matter (NOM) in nanofiltration (NF) systems. Four types of NOMs were considered as model foulants: humic acid, bovine-serum-albumin, sodium alginate, and tannic acid. In addition, real-time 2D images were acquired via optical coherence tomography (OCT) to quantify the cake layer formed on the membrane. Subsequently, experimental data were used to train the LSTM model to predict permeate flux and fouling layer thickness as output variables. The model performance exhibited root mean square errors of <1 L/m2/h for permeate flux and <10 µm for fouling layer thickness in both the training and validation steps. In this study, we demonstrated that deep learning can be used to simulate the influence of NOMs on the NF system and also be applied to simulate other membrane processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaegyu Shim
- School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Sanghun Park
- School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyung Hwa Cho
- School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan 44919, Republic of Korea.
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Fouling Behavior during Sterile Filtration of Different Glycoconjugate Serotypes Used in Conjugate Vaccines. Pharm Res 2021; 38:155-163. [PMID: 33438097 DOI: 10.1007/s11095-020-02983-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Sterile filtration can be a particular challenge when processing very large glycoconjugate vaccines. The objective of this study was to examine the sterile filtration performance of a series of glycoconjugate vaccines produced by coupling different polysaccharide serotypes to an immunogenic protein. METHODS Sterile filtration was performed at constant filtrate flux using 0.22 μm pore size Durapore® polyvinylidene fluoride membranes. Glycoconjugates were characterized by dynamic light scattering, rheological measurements, and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Confocal microscopy was used to examine glycoconjugate capture profiles within the membrane. Transmembrane pressure data were analyzed using a recently developed fouling model. RESULTS All glycoconjugates deposited in a narrow band near the entrance of the Durapore® membranes. The rate of fouling varied significantly for the different serotypes, with the fouling parameter correlated with the fraction of glycoconjugates larger than 200 nm in size. CONCLUSIONS The fouling behavior and sterile filter capacity of the different glycoconjugate serotypes are determined primarily by the presence of large species (>200 nm in size) as determined by nanoparticle tracking analysis. The modified intermediate pore blockage model provides a framework for predicting the sterile filtration performance for these glycoconjugate vaccines.
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