Novel Gas Supply System for Multi-Chamber Tri-Gas Cell Culture: Low Gas Consumption and Wide Concentration Range

Abstract

Gas plays a crucial role in cell culture as cells require a specific gas environment to maintain their growth, reproduction, and function. Here, we propose a gas supply system for tri-gas multi-channel cell incubators to meet the specific needs of various cells. The system utilizes a circulating gas supply method powered by air pumps for each chamber. Gas inflow from the cylinder is independently controlled by Mass Flow Controllers (MFCs), and a quantitative step-by-step adjustment control strategy is employed to calculate the volume of different gases being introduced. Through mixing simulations and experiments, we identified the SV static mixer with an L/D ratio of 2.5 as the optimal choice. To evaluate the concentration accuracy and gas consumption of the gas system, we conduct gas mixing and distribution experiments under different conditions. The results show that the system could achieve a concentration range of 0–100% for O2 with an accuracy of ±0.5%, and a concentration range of 0–10% for CO2 with an accuracy of ±0.1%. The daily gas consumption during cultivation is 3570 mL of N2, 330 mL of CO2, and 115 mL of O2, significantly lower than conventional incubators. Overall, our system can effectively manage dynamic gas concentration changes, particularly in high O2 concentration environments. It offers advantages such as low gas consumption, a wide concentration range, and high accuracy compared to existing incubators.