Does the BioBLU 0.3f single-use scale to the BioFlo® 320 reuseable bioreactor on a matched volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient?

The volumetric oxygen mass transfer coefficient ([Formula: see text] ) is an essential parameter in aerobic high-cell density fermentation where the availability of oxygen to growing microorganisms is a limiting factor. Bioprocess teams looking to scale-up/down between the Eppendorf BioBLU 0.3f single-use vessel and the BioFlo® 320 reusable vessel bioreactors may find it challenging using a matched [Formula: see text] . The maximum [Formula: see text] of the BioFlo® 320 reusable bioreactor was 109 h(−1), which was approximately twice that of the BioBLU 0.3f single-use vessel. The results here show no overlap in [Formula: see text] values when both bioreactors were compared and thus conclude that scalability based on [Formula: see text] is not viable. The maximum [Formula: see text] of the Eppendorf BioBLU 0.3f single-use reported here was 47 h(−1) compared to that of the manufacturer’s value of 2500 h(−1), indicating a 53-fold difference. This discrepancy was attributed to the incompatible sulfite addition method used by the manufacturer for estimation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11274-020-02968-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.