Sani Membranes has switched to Watson-Marlow peristaltic pumps within its Vibro Membrane Filtration (VMF) systems, which are used in both upstream and downstream bioprocessing.
Sani Membranes
VMF is a versatile microfiltration and ultrafiltration solution ideal for microfiltration in cell harvesting and concentration capable of handling high viscosity fluids, typically up to 1000 cP. VMF provides reduced fouling, improved transmission, superior product quality and maximum yield across a wide range of filtration, separation, clarification and concentration applications, and is available in configurations suitable for both feasibility and process development work at laboratory scale as well as industrial-scale production.
As Vibro systems are purpose-built for continuous and connected bioprocessing, Sani Membranes required a user-friendly, low-shear pump to protect sensitive cells with precise flow control and proven reliability. Watson-Marlow’s pump portfolio met all these criteria and Sani Membranes now incorporates Watson-Marlow peristaltic pumps (including 100/300/500/600 series cased pumps and 500 series DriveSure panel mount pumps), Watson-Marlow Tubing (PureWeld) and WMArchitectTM single-use solutions as standard within its Vibro units.
Depending on process needs, these pumps act as either feed pumps or mix-flow pumps for the media to be processed, as well as to control the permeate flow where applicable, in order to obtain the unique process control offered by VMF. Watson-Marlow peristaltic pumps provide stable, dependable and contamination-free operation and Watson-Marlow’s broad range of pumps allows Sani Membranes to select the optimal flow rate for each system.
Accurate flow control
A key requirement for pumps for Sani Membranes is the ability to scale customers from small laboratory systems to large industrial solutions.
Michael Juul Jensen, global sales and process technology manager, at Sani Membranes, said: “Some of our customers first use our systems on a very small scale, but then ramp it up to large-scale production. A customer might need to go from 3 m2 of membrane to 80 m2. An essential part of making this possible is accurate flow control. We previously used pumps from another manufacturer, but we now focus on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets, and their requirements are a lot more demanding, so we now offer our filters with a high-quality pump with better control from Watson-Marlow.”
Support and supplier reliability
Local technical support and assured supply were also important factors why Sani Membranes chose to partner with Watson-Marlow for its compact pumps, tubing and single-use assemblies.
Claus Andersen, strategic account lead – Life Sciences, said: “Sani Membranes switched to Watson-Marlow pumps and tubing from a competitor’s products in 2025 because of Watson-Marlow’s strong reputation in the biopharmaceutical industry. It was essential for Sani Membranes customers’ that they integrate trusted technology that is backed by global technical support services. Watson-Marlow offers a five-year warranty on many products and a strong supply network. Reliability and global support are very important for Sani Membranes.”
Michael Juul Jensen added: “We send equipment all around the world, so if we send a pump away and it fails due to quality issues, it causes problems and may damage our technology’s credibility.
“With a Watson-Marlow pump, we have a globally recognised brand and partner. A lot of our customers already have a Watson-Marlow pump in their laboratory, so they are familiar with the pump and have had good experiences with it. We don’t need to convince them that it can deliver what they need in terms of reliability and user-friendly operation.
“We also have good local support for selecting the optimal type of pump and for training the sales team at Sani Membranes.”
Gentle, low-shear processing
Another critical advantage of Watson-Marlow pumps for Sani Membranes is their gentle product handling and low-shear pumping which protects sensitive cells and molecules throughout the process.
Michael Juul Jensen said: “One of our technology’s key features is that we have a low-shear filtration process. Our technology is suitable for fragile cells—applications where the cell viability is measured with clear KPIs. Therefore, the surrounding equipment must be in line with this. We can’t have a pump that damages cells, like a centrifugal pump would.”
Claus Andersen agreed: “Sani Membranes had some challenges with the suction of centrifugal pumps. The good suction of our pumps is important even if you have air in the system. With centrifugal pumps, if you have an RPM which is too high it may cause damage to sensitive molecules or cells. That would be very expensive for Sani Membranes’ customers.
“Other advantages are that our pumps are easier to clean than the previous pumps used by Sani Membranes, and they are more accurate. As Sani Membranes also uses BioPure components and WMArchitect single-use assemblies from Watson-Marlow, we have been able to become a total solution supplier for their fluid path requirements.”
Positive displacement pump and control valve in one
Sani Membranes no longer needs a permeate regulation valve to control the permeate flow as the Watson-Marlow pump also acts as a control valve.
Michael Juul Jensen said: “The Watson-Marlow peristaltic pump is ideal for us because we need a positive displacement pump that acts like a control valve as well. As the permeate flow has to be controlled precisely, we previously used a valve, manometer and flowmeter to control it. But nowadays, we simply use peristaltic pumps by Watson-Marlow instead, which replace the need for a permeate regulation valve. By regulating the pump, we can control the permeate flow much more precisely, so integrating Watson-Marlow’s pumps has been a system upgrade for us.”
Vibro Membrane Filtration (VMF) technology has proved to be an effective means of cell removal from cultivation broth, both in microbial and mammalian processes.
Applications of Vibro Membrane Filtration (VMF) include, among others:
- Harvest of mammalian cell cultivations in bioreactors
- Cell retention device in perfusion processes
- Recovery of product from perfusion bleed streams
- Ultrafiltration of harvest material to reduce volume before further processing
By integrating Watson-Marlow pumps and components, Sani Membranes achieves:
- Precise and scalable flow control
- Low-shear pumping that protects cell viability and sensitive biomolecules
- Improved system reliability with global support and warranty for some products being valid for up to five years
- Easier cleaning and operation for users in regulated environments
- Greater design flexibility thanks to a broad pump and OEM product range
- Simplified process control by replacing valves and flow meters with precise and controlled pump operation parameters
- Pumps, tubing and single-use components from one supplier with industry-leading validation and certification packages