Patent ID: 7713730

Claim:
A pneumatic bioreactor comprising a containment vessel; a gas supply having at least one orifice in the containment vessel; mixing apparatus including a rotational mixer rotatably mounted in the containment vessel about a horizontal axis, the rotational mixer comprising: buoyancy-driven mixing cavities above the at least one orifice, two parallel wheels displaced from one another, blades disposed to induce flow axially through the wheels in opposite directions with rotation of the rotational mixer, baffles fixed in the containment vessel to either side of the rotational mixer and inclined toward the rotational mixer in the direction of rotation, outer paddles disposed to mix and to induce rotational flow with rotation of the rotational mixer, and inner paddles to mix and to induce rotational flow radially with rotation of the rotational mixer, the outer paddles being on opposite sides of the wheels from the inner paddles.