Fermentation
Federal Equipment Company buys and sells used fermentation equipment from more than 1 million sq ft of storage in Cleveland, OH. We handle lab, seed, and production fermenters in glass, stainless steel, and single-use designs. We also handle the kinds of separators, filters, and dryers used at harvest and recovery.
What this covers
This page focuses on submerged microbial fermentation, which grows bacteria, yeast, or fungi in a stirred liquid broth inside a sealed, sterile vessel to make a product. The product may be something the organism secretes, such as an enzyme or an organic acid, or it may be the cells themselves.
Since 1957, our family business has bought and sold used process and packaging equipment, and it is now in its third generation. When a plant closes or a program ends, we can buy its equipment outright, take it on consignment, or run an auction for the site.
Plants that run this equipment make enzymes, food and feed ingredients, probiotics, and specialty biochemicals. Newer plants use precision fermentation to make dairy and egg proteins, or grow mycoprotein as biomass. Others ferment cultured botanical ingredients.
Mammalian cell culture, single-use systems for biologics, and chromatography are on our biotechnology equipment page. Brewery fermenters, bright tanks, and distillery stills belong with our beverage and bottling equipment. The boilers, chillers, and air compressors that keep the plant running are on our plant utility equipment page.
Whole plants often sell where they stand, at auctions run with our partners, so the equipment never passes through Cleveland. Ask us even when nothing is listed.
Process train
The steps below follow a typical submerged microbial process, from raw media to a dry product. Some products skip steps: a liquid enzyme may never be dried, and a biomass product keeps the cells that other lines throw away.
Growth media combine sugars or starches, a nitrogen source, salts, and trace nutrients, dissolved in jacketed stainless steel tanks. The media must be sterile before the culture goes in. Benchtop vessels are autoclaved with the media inside, and stainless steel fermenters are sterilized in place. Large plants heat the media briefly in a continuous sterilizer and cool it on the way to the vessel.
A culture starts from a frozen vial, grows in shake flasks in an incubator shaker, and then moves through one or more seed fermenters. An inoculum is commonly 5% to 10% of the next vessel's working volume, so each stage of a seed train runs roughly 10 to 20 times the working volume of the one before. That gives the production vessel a large, active start.
A reusable stainless steel production fermenter is a pressure vessel, steamed in place before each batch and then held at a set temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen for hours or days. Fast-growing microbes use oxygen quickly and release heat, so these vessels carry strong agitators, spargers, and cooling jackets or coils. Batch, fed-batch, and continuous runs all use the same basic vessel, cleaned between batches by a clean-in-place skid. Single-use fermenters replace the steel vessel with a presterilized bag in a holder, so they skip steaming and cleaning.
Harvest splits the broth from the cells. Disc stack separators clarify broth at high speed, and decanter centrifuges take broths heavy with solids or mycelium. Filter presses remove solids from some broths, such as fungal ones, and plate filters polish the liquid that follows. Products held inside the cells need cell disruption, usually in a high-pressure homogenizer, before they can be separated.
Clarified broth is usually dilute, so the next step removes water. Ultrafiltration membranes concentrate proteins and enzymes without heat. Evaporators, often falling film designs, boil water off under vacuum, which keeps temperatures low for heat-sensitive products.
Spray dryers turn a concentrate into powder in seconds, which suits enzymes, yeast extracts, and many food ingredients. Freeze dryers handle live cultures and probiotics that heat would kill. Liquid products skip drying and go straight to formulation and filling.
Process development runs in benchtop glass fermenters of a few liters and pilot vessels of tens to hundreds of liters. Each has a control tower for pumps, probes, and gas flow. Pilot runs set the agitation, aeration, and feeding the production vessel has to match.
Terminology
The trade borrows words from brewing, biotech, and food science, and listings mix them. These four distinctions help when you search.
Fermenter and fermentor are two spellings of the same machine, and listings use both. In brewing and winemaking, a fermentation tank is usually a conical vessel that is cleaned and sanitized but not sterilized. A stainless steel fermenter for microbial production is a sealed pressure vessel with sterile air filters and seals that keep other organisms out. Single-use fermenters reach the same goal with a presterilized bag.
A seed fermenter grows the starter culture for a larger vessel, and a plant may run two or three seed stages. Seed vessels are built like production fermenters at a smaller scale. A used production fermenter can sometimes serve as the seed vessel in a larger plant.
Precision fermentation uses engineered microbes to make one target molecule, such as a dairy protein or an enzyme, which is then purified from the broth. Biomass fermentation grows the organism itself as the product, as with mycoprotein. Traditional fermentation uses microbes to change a food, as in yogurt, tempeh, or soy sauce.
Most industrial production is submerged, with the organism growing in a stirred liquid broth. The solid-state method grows fungi on moist grain or bran in trays, drums, or packed beds, the method behind koji. The equipment differs almost completely, so tell us which one you run when you ask.
| Glass benchtop fermenters | 3 to 15 liters |
|---|---|
| Stainless steel fermenters | 10 to 3,000 liters |
| Single-use fermenters | 300-liter HyPerforma systems |
| Disc stack separators | Self-cleaning and solid-bowl designs, including steam-sterilizable biotech designs |
| Filter presses | 18-inch (470 mm) to 60-inch (1,500 mm) plates |
| Spray dryers | Benchtop units to a 13 ft 1 in diameter production chamber |
These ranges are examples of what we have handled, not a limit on what we can source. The largest stainless steel fermenters were 3,000-liter Sartorius Stedim systems with bottom-mounted agitators and pH and dissolved oxygen sensors on a PLC panel.
The separators, filter presses, and spray dryers in this table are the kinds used at those steps, and the same machines also serve chemical and food plants. Check that the materials, seals, and internal finish suit a food or biotech product before you buy.
Services
Three services matter most when you buy used fermenters and separators.
Condition
We run equipment under power where we can, and buyers often bring an OEM representative to look over a fermenter's drive and seals or a separator's bowl. Live video tours cover machines you cannot visit. Hydrostatic testing, leak testing, motor testing, and refurbishment can be arranged before shipment.
Decontamination
A fermenter or separator that handled a production organism may need more than a wash before it ships. We arrange decontamination through an outside partner: bioburden reduction and swab testing for penicillin G and ampicillin residue, with a written report. It does not remove chemical residues or allergens, and those two antibiotics are the only residues it tests for.
Sourcing
Tell us the organism, the working volume, the pressure rating, and the step you need to fill, then request sourcing help. We will search for a single seed fermenter or for the kinds of separators, filters, and dryers a recovery train needs.
Manufacturers
These are the makers and model series we have handled at each step of a fermentation line, starting with the fermenters. The media, harvest, and drying machines are the kinds used at those steps.
| Step | Manufacturers and model series |
|---|---|
| Lab, pilot, and seed fermenters | New Brunswick BioFlo fermenters and incubator shakers Eppendorf BioFlo fermenter systems and BioFlo 320 controllers BioEngineering benchtop fermenters, 3 to 16 liters Sauter stainless steel fermentation vessels |
| Production fermenters | Sartorius stainless steel fermenters to 3,000 liters B. Braun Biostat and Biotech fermenters, 4 to 1,200 liters ABEC Systems stainless steel fermenters Precision stainless steel fermenter systems Thermo Scientific HyPerforma single-use fermenters |
| Media preparation and sterilization | Lee Industries jacketed process tanks DCI jacketed process tanks STERIS sterilizers for flasks, small media batches, and components Fedegari sterilizers for flasks, small media batches, and components |
| Harvest and clarification | Alfa Laval BTPX biotech-design clarifiers Westfalia CSC and CSA steam-sterilizable separators Sharples decanter centrifuges Flottweg decanter centrifuges, including the Sedicanter JWI filter presses Hoesch filter presses |
| Drying | GEA Niro PSD sanitary and Mobile Minor spray dryers |
Buying used
A used fermenter has to hold sterility batch after batch, so look past the vessel shell. Check four things before you buy.
A reusable stainless steel fermenter is steamed in place before every batch, so its ratings matter. Most stainless steel fermenters we have handled carry internal ratings of 40 to 58 psi, many with full vacuum, and higher ratings on the jacket. Check the National Board number and confirm that the air filters, sample valves, and seals were built for steam. A single-use fermenter skips steaming but runs on bags and controls made for that system, so confirm that its bags are still available and that its controller and software come with it.
Agitator power, impeller design, and the sparger set how much oxygen a fermenter can deliver, and the jacket sets how much heat it can remove. A vessel built for a slow-growing organism may starve a fast one. Compare drive horsepower and impeller tiers against the vessel your process was developed in.
Fermenters and separators are built to different standards for pharmaceutical, food, and industrial products. Check the product-contact alloy, often 316L stainless steel, the internal finish, the sanitary fittings, and which documents still travel with the vessel. Establishing that it suits a GMP process stays with your quality team.
Size each step against the production batch. A separator sized for a low-solids yeast broth may choke on a fungal broth thick with mycelium, and an evaporator has to remove water as fast as harvest delivers it. Confirm that seed vessels, separators, and dryers fit the batch before combining machines from different plants.
Selling surplus
A fermentation plant holds more than fermenters: seed vessels, media tanks, separators, evaporators, dryers, and the boilers and chillers behind them. Send us the equipment list and the date the site must be clear. We will suggest whether to sell outright, on consignment, or at auction.
Our auction calendar lists past sales, including the 2026 closure of a cultured botanical fermentation facility in Winnipeg, MB, with bioreactors, filter presses, jacketed tanks, and Alfa Laval centrifuges. Other 2025 and 2026 sales for biotech and alternative protein companies included glass and stainless steel fermenter systems, a New Brunswick BioFlo 3000, and an Applikon bioreactor system.
Send an equipment list, nameplate photos with the vessel ratings, the organisms the plant ran, and the date the site must be clear. Call 800-652-2466 or email sales@fedequip.com.
Sell your equipmentBuying instead? Tell us what you are looking for.
FAQ
Still have a question? Call 800-652-2466 or email sales@fedequip.com.
Most plants need media tanks and a sterilizer, an incubator shaker and seed fermenters, and one or more production fermenters with clean-in-place and steam supply. Harvest uses disc stack separators, decanters, or filter presses. Recovery may add ultrafiltration or evaporators, and a spray dryer or freeze dryer turns the product into powder. Boilers, chillers, and air compressors run behind every step.
Usually not for a pure-culture process. Brewery tanks are built to be cleaned and sanitized, and many are not rated to be steam sterilized under pressure or held under vacuum. A stainless steel microbial fermenter is a sealed pressure vessel with sterile air filtration, aseptic sample ports, and seals that keep contaminants out. Some food fermentations tolerate sanitized vessels, so the organism and the process decide.
Much the same as an enzyme plant: seed and production fermenters, separators to remove the cells, membranes or evaporators to concentrate the protein, and a spray dryer. Engineered yeast, fungi, or bacteria make the target protein, and the organism sets the oxygen and cooling the fermenters must supply. Food-grade plants also need sanitary design and food-safety records.
Work backward from the production vessel. An inoculum is commonly 5% to 10% of the next vessel's working volume, so a fermenter with a 3,000-liter working volume needs roughly 150 to 300 liters of inoculum. That sets the seed vessel's working volume, and the seed vessel may need a smaller stage of its own. The organism's growth rate, your process data, and how many transfers you want decide the final sizes.
Start with the bowl: whether it is a self-cleaning or solid-bowl design, its rated speed, and its inspection and overhaul history. Corrosion or erosion in a high-speed bowl is a safety issue. Then check the discs, seals, and spindle bearings, and whether the machine was built for clean-in-place. Finally, compare its rated throughput with the solids content of your broth.
We do our best never to bring in equipment that ran penicillin, cephalosporins, or other beta-lactam antibiotics, several of which are made by fermentation. Trace residue can cause severe allergic reactions, so that equipment needs dedicated facilities. When a fermenter's history is unclear, ask what it ran. Our decontamination partner can test swabs for penicillin G and ampicillin residue.
Yes. We buy equipment outright or sell it on consignment, and for a whole site we can run an online auction with our partners. A whole-site sale can also include the plant's labs, boilers, and generators. Removal costs nothing up front, because we pay for it and deduct it from the sale proceeds.
Start with an equipment list and nameplate photos, including each vessel's ratings and National Board number. Tell us the working volumes, the organisms that ran, whether the controls and software come with each system, and when the site must be clear. For a whole plant, a layout or P&ID helps us decide whether to sell lines intact or as separate machines.
Call 800-652-2466 or email sales@fedequip.com. You can inspect equipment in Cleveland, OH by appointment.
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Processing Assets: Blenders, Mixers, Dryers, Mills & Material Handling
November 6 - 12, 2026
Comprehensive Selection of Processing, Inspection, and End-of-Line Equipment
A curated mix of freeze drying, palletizing, weighing, and accumulation systems suitable for biotech, pharma, and general manufacturing.
Used Biopharma Equipment for Mixing & Purification
Explore Sartorius Palletanks, GE AKTAprocess Chromatography Systems, and more — available in stock and ready to ship!
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