Cleaning chromatography packed bed material with the aid of a processing vessel, and said vessel

A packed bed gel material cleaning vessel, comprising:

• an internal processing volume, to contain the gel, which volume is delimited by a circumferential, axially extending, upright vessel wall (during normal operation of the vessel) at both axial ends sealed by a top vessel wall and an opposite bottom vessel wall,
• wherein the internal processing volume is more than 10 litre,
• wherein sensors of the vessel monitor the filling level of the vessel, and
• wherein the vessel is “sanitary” and all surfaces delimiting the spaces that contain gel or liquid flowing to or from the gel are mirror polished in stainless steel,
• the vessel further comprising
• a bottom filter extends closely above the vessel bottom wall, such that liquid internal of the vessel can only enter the space internal of the vessel at the opposite side of the bottom filter by passing through the bottom filter;
• a lower vessel volume under the bottom filter, in which the liquid that has downwardly passed through the bottom filter is collected internally of the vessel above the bottom vessel wall and below the bottom filter;
• a separate bottom particle draining port in the axial centre of said bottom filter, for draining of the upper vessel volume (above the bottom filter and containing the gel) from the vessel to the outside through the vessel bottom wall;
• this bottom particle draining port is sealed from the lower vessel volume below the bottom filter and is in fluid communication with the upper vessel volume above the bottom filter, via a draining pipe sealingly penetrating the bottom filter and the vessel bottom wall;
• the external access to and from the lower vessel volume below the bottom filter is provided by a bottom draining port and is sealed from the external access to and from the upper vessel volume via the bottom particle draining port;
• thus liquid free of gel particles and thus able to pass the bottom filter can be extracted from or added to the upper vessel volume, into respectively from the lower vessel volume via the bottom filter and the bottom draining port (arrow D) while independent or simultaneously gel can be extracted from or added to the upper vessel volume via the bottom particle draining port (arrow B);
• a circumferential, axially extending, cylindrical vertical filter is provided a short radial distance from, parallel and concentrically with, the upright vessel wall, providing a torus like flow gap concentrical with the upright vessel wall;
• the top edge of this vertical filter is above the maximum fill level (for the gel) of the vessel;
• a vertical filter-draining port in the external wall of the vessel, at the lowest point of the vertical filter acts as liquid access to the flow gap (arrow C);
• a mixer axially of the vessel, equipped with vessel internal blades near and above the vessel bottom filter, to stir the content of the upper vessel volume.