Substrate Control in Fedbatch Cultivations Using a Model-based Modification of a PI-regulator

Abstract

A fedbatch process shows exponential growth under ideal conditions. To obtain good substrate concentration control it is necessary that the regulator can track an exponentially growing feed demand, and standard PI-control has to be supplemented with an estimated basic dosage to get reasonable control. However, an exponentially growing concentration error is impossible to avoid. An I-term could be interpreted as an observer of a constant demand, and we have proposed to replace it with a model-based observer for an exponentially growing demand. In the resulting controller the integrator is replaced by an unstable pole at s = μ, the specific growth rate, and the initial condition of this term is equivalent to the basic dosage part. The regulator can now track the exponentially growing feed demand without error. Pseudomonas cepacia was grown on salicylate as sole carbon and energy source. Salicylate is a toxic substrate, so it is important to have good substrate control. Online measurement of salicylate concentration was carried out using a filtration system from which cell-free permeate was passed to a flow-through spectrophotometer. Introducing more instability into the controller requires attention to the anti-windup features. No such problems were found during the cultivations or in simulations of the effect of conceivable disturbances like pump-failure, air-bubbles in the spectrofotometer, and low oxygen concentration induced growth-rate reduction.