Over the past 27 years, ABEC has implemented numerous bioreactor and fermentor design innovations and refinements, many of which have become industry standards.

Place your cursor over areas highlighted in orange on the system shown to learn more about specific features.

Utility Preparation

A series of filters and regulators protects the machinery from foreign objects or over-pressure conditions. Our designs also keep all service elements in the back and all operational elements in front, simplifying layout.

Instrumentation and Controls

ABEC is a leader in advanced control systems for bioprocess equipment, as detailed below:

  • Allen-Bradley PLCs and Panelview User Interfaces (PV-1000 Color Touch Screen is standard)
  • Rockwell Software- ControlLogix, RSLogix, RSView32, PanelBuilder, RS-Networx software
  • DCS – Fisher Rosemount, DeltaV, Foxboro, others on request
  • Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) packages
  • User-friendly Human Machine Interface (HMI) screens
  • 21 CFR Part 11 compliant systems shipped and 3rd party confirmed
  • Bus hardware for simpler cabling and greater noise immunity (DeviceNet, Profibus, Foundation Fieldbus)


Amplifier Box

By keeping it close to the pH, temperature, and other probes, there is less chance of the electrical signal distortion that can lead to improper control of key reaction variables.

Agitation Design

Key ABEC innovations include:

  • Low Shear “Elephant Ear” Impellor (cell culture) – Distributes shear stress evenly along the impellor tip to minimize cell damage.
  • 15° Offset Agitation (cell culture) – Achieves excellent mixing without baffles, thereby improving vessel cleanability.
  • Non-Pressurized Agitator Seal Housing (cell culture, fermentation) – Inherently aseptic double-containment design eliminates the possibility of batch contamination from the outside environment.

Note that although these innovations have been shown to work for many cGMP production applications, ABEC has and will continue to custom design systems to exact customer specifications. For example, we have designed centerline/baffle agitation solutions for some applications, and we have also designed pressurized seal housings for high biohazard level processes.

Custom Skid Design

ABEC has custom designed and manufactured skids that meet unique customer needs. These include multiple vessel skids that save space and utility drops, and dual purpose systems that can be used for both microbial and cell culture applications.

Below: Mirror-Image, Four-Vessel Skid

Large Scale Bioreactors

ABEC has designed, manufactured, and shipped several bioreactors of >15,000L total volume. Multiple 20,000L bioreactors shipped in 2001 validated within 6 months and are running in production.