In the pharmaceutical industry, pumps are most often used for fluid transfer in upstream and downstream processing steps. As an alternative to the membrane or peristaltic pumps, Levitronix^® GmbH has developed pulsation-free and bearingless centrifugal pumps with replaceable plastic pump heads that prevent leakage and extend the range of applications of disposable pumps to higher flow rates. However, as the application of pumps for biological and shear sensitive liquids can be very critical, the suitability must be proven.

Especially in downstream processing, the evaluation of the mechanical stress on proteins is particularly relevant. To investigate the influence of different pump types on protein quality at different flow rates and pressures, chicken egg white lysozyme was chosen as model protein. Enzyme activity and particle size measurements were performed to detect changes in the protein.