A pulse technique for control of fed-batch fermentations

A strategy for control of substrate feed rate in fed-batch fermentations is presented. The main idea is to make pulses in the feed rate and to evaluate the response in the dissolved oxygen signal. This gives an indirect measurement of the substrate demand that is used for feedback control of the feed rate. Experimental data is used to develop a model of a fermentation process. The model is used to derive simple tuning rules that require little process specific information. Several simulation experiments show the feasibility of the presented strategy.