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Using Centrifugal Force to Collect Bio-Products

    › Benefits
    › Applications
    › Patent
    › Licensing and Partnering Opportunity
    › Contact Information

Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center have patented an apparatus and method for separating air from a fluid. The unique aspect of this separator is that, unlike other methods that use centrifugal force to separate gas from liquid, the Centrifugal Adsorption Cartridge System (CACS) enables the capture of specific selected substances within the liquid. As an example, this system can be used to capture target substances and bio-products from a dilute aqueous solution or suspension flowing from a bioreactor. JSC innovators originally developed the CACS to manage wastewater and other fluids for the International Space Station; however, the technology also can enable work in the areas of basic biotechnology research, disease diagnosis and therapy, and tissue engineering. The system operates in normal gravity and in microgravity environments. JSC has received patent number 7,122,071 for this technology.


Benefits
  • Effective: Targets and recovers multiple specific substances and bio-products via a long contact path through adsorbent materials
  • Scalable: Meets variable recovery demands
  • Practical: Stores separated substances and bio-products under optimum preservation conditions for long periods
  • Compact: Elutes and recovers separated substances and bio-products into small volumes, occupying minimal storage space

Applications
  • Biological cell cultivation
  • Gas-liquid separation tasks in food and beverage processing, wastewater treatment, and pharmaceutical manufacturing
  • Zero gravity environment research

Patent

Johnson Space Center has received patent protection (U.S. 7,122,071→) for this technology.


Licensing and Partnering Opportunity

This technology is being made available through JSC’s Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office, which seeks to transfer technology into and out of NASA to benefit the space program and U.S. industry. NASA invites companies to consider licensing this technology for commercial applications.


Contact Information

If you would like more information about this technology or about NASA’s technology transfer program, please contact:

Technology Transfer and Commercialization Office
NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Phone: 281-483-3809
E-mail: jsc-techtran@mail.nasa.gov
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