Towards nonlinear model predictive control of fed-batch cultures of E. Coli

摘要

This paper proposes the design of a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) scheme for the regulation of the acetic acid concentration (leading to the biomass growth maximization) during high cell density fed-batch cultures of Escherichia coli. For NMPC purposes, an unstructured model for the growth is first derived with respect to the major metabolic pathways: oxidative growth on glucose, fermentative growth on glucose and oxidative growth on acetic acid. To avoid complexity in the application of the traditional version of NMPC to this process, the on-line optimization then proceeds using the Control Vector Parameterization (CVP) approach. Finally, some simulation results are given to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed control strategy.