Adaptive control of feed load changes in alcohol fermentation

Abstract

A fed-batch alcohol fermentation on a pilot plant scale with a digital supervisory control system was evaluated as an experimental application case study of an adaptive controller. The verification of intrinsically dynamic variations in the characteristics of the fermentation, observed in previous work, showed the necessity of an adaptive control strategy for controller parameter tuning in order to adjust the changes in the specific rates of consumption, growth and product formation during the process. Satisfactory experimental results were obtained for set-point variations and sugar feed concentration load changes in the manipulated inlet flow to the fermenter.