Ergonomic design enables routine column maintenance by one operator in as little as 15 minutes 

Chromatography columns are an integral part of many biologic purification processes. As such there has been an increase in the use of large-scale columns, including popular stainless-steel Dynamic Axial Compression (DAC) columns. These columns are flexible as they allow packing of any required bed height to enable a variety of different media types and sizes. In addition, their design allows for a quick, easy and homogenous packed bed as well as an even distribution for plug flow of liquid to achieve better peak resolution.

However, the challenge to using any large scale stainless-steel liquid chromatography column is that their size, weight and design makes unpacking and servicing them laborious, time consuming and cumbersome. For example, to unpack a large column correctly, it can take 4-6 operators up to a few hours to complete. In fact, the process is risky to both the operators and the column’s structural integrity. Removing bolts to access the bottom plate assembly of a DAC column creates a safety hazard because of the weight and size of the bottom plate and most columns lack any mechanism to enable safe removal.

As one of the most prolific suppliers of large-scale DAC columns, Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America (AKBA) set out to provide an intuitive column design that would increase both efficiency and safety during the turnover process. This resulted in the DAC Ergo LC Column, which provides an innovative way to unpack and perform maintenance on the column. The ease and speed with which operations can be accomplished using DAC Ergo is impressive and can be seen in the video above.

With the DAC Ergo LC Column from Asahi Kasei Bioprocess, routine maintenance can be performed by one operator in as little as 15 minutes. In addition to mitigating safety concerns, this feature increases productivity by reducing changeover time from hours with multiple operators to minutes with a single operator.

Additional key features include:

• Integrated hydraulics to minimize labor and safety concerns
• Quick-release bottom plate assembly
• Bottom plate cart for convenience
• Standard sizes [60cm, 80cm, 100cm, 120cm] and custom builds
• Optional slurry bin for spent media capture and drastically reduced clean-up

With DAC Ergo, performing routine maintenance on DAC columns is now manageable – reducing lengthy changeovers, safety risks and operation delays.

To learn more, please see https://fluidmgmt.ak-bio.com/products/dac-ergo/