News
FBS Filtration Case Study Clarification Sterile & Mycoplasma Removal in 3 Stages
2026-09-18
Overview
A biopharmaceutical manufacturer specializing in fetal bovine serum (FBS) and other cell culture products was running clarification, sterile filtration and mycoplasma removal across five separate stages — five process steps and five consumable types — with filter cartridges clogging often enough to put throughput and cost under constant pressure.
The Challenge: A Five-Stage Filtration Train
The original setup: absorbent cotton → 1 µm bag filter → 0.45 µm PP → 0.22 µm PES → 0.1 µm PES.
• Absorbent cotton pre-treatment — cotton fibers entering the product stream, whole batches sent back for rework, quality control costs climbing.
• Large-format filter housings — heavy product hold-up, with per-batch loss staying stubbornly high.
• Frequent cartridge clogging — standby filters rotated in, the whole line down, schedules and delivery dates both slipping. Capacity trapped in "waiting".
The Feature-Tec Solution: Three-Stage Integrated Filtration
After a close review of how the line actually ran — and of what the customer needed to fix and to achieve — Feature-Tec proposed a three-stage train: depth filtration takes on the main clarification duty, removing protein aggregates and lipids and sharply cutting the load on downstream cartridges; 0.22 µm filtration guarantees absolute sterilization; 0.1 µm filtration secures mycoplasma control. Three stages working together deliver everything the traditional multi-step process did — with far less complexity.
Results
• Cartridge clogging eased, with throughput per unit time up significantly.
• Fewer consumable types and fewer labor hours.
• Cost structure keeps improving, with clarification, sterilization and mycoplasma removal all secured by the same three-stage train.
• Batch-to-batch consistency and finished-product safety better protected.
Each stage works independently while the three remove turbidity as a gradient — lowering the load on downstream cartridges and avoiding the batch losses that clogging used to cause.
From Lab Validation to Commercial Scale
How does a filtration setup scale up reliably? For cell therapy and regenerative medicine, animal serum production, CDMOs and research institutes, Feature-Tec supports the full path from filter selection and process validation to on-site application — addressing loss of active protein, filter clogging, too many consumable types, over-complex process steps, and results that are hard to reproduce at scale.
To date, Feature-Tec has delivered multiple installed projects in blood-derived, bioactive cell culture supplements — human AB serum, human platelet lysate, delipidated human plasma and fetal bovine serum — with each project confirming the feasibility and stability of the approach in real production.
About Feature-Tec
With over 20 years of expertise in filtration, separation, and purification, Feature-Tec delivers high-performance solutions worldwide — from cartridge elements, bag filters, and depth filters to membrane systems, coalescers, filter housings, and complete filtration packages across water treatment, oil & gas, biopharmaceuticals, semiconductors, fine chemicals, and hydrogen processing. Certified by ASME VIII-1&2 and backed by CNAS/ISO 17025 / GMP-Like accredited laboratories, we provide full validation support from E&L studies to integrity testing. Cross-brand replacement solutions, helping customers optimize process reliability and equipment longevity through source-purification technology tailored to real-world demands. Contact us at marketing@feature-tec.com for professional solutions.
Contact
Hotline: (+86)400-820-6150
Email: marketing@feature-tec.com
Address: 8/F, Block A, Building 3, Tianhua Information Technology Park, 299 Longcao Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai
