Modeling and advanced control of recombinant Zymomonas mobilis fed-batch fermentation

This work presents the development of an unstructured kinetic model incorporating the differing degrees of product, substrate, and pH inhibition on the kinetic rates of ethanol fermentation by recombinant Zymomonas mobilis CP4:pZB5 for growth on two substrates. Product inhibition was observed to start affecting the specific growth rate at an ethanol concentration of 20 g/L and the specific productivity at about 35-40 g/L. Specific growth rate was also shown to be more sensitive to inhibition by lowered pH as well. A model for the inhibition of two competing substrates' cellular uptake via membrane transport is proposed. Inhibition functions and model parameters were determined by fitting experimental data to the model. The model was utilized in a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) algorithm to control the product concentration during fed-batch fermentation to offset the inhibitory effects of product inhibition. Using the optimal feeding policy determined online, the volumetric productivity of ethanol was improved 16.6% relative to the equivalent batch operation when the final ethanol concentration was reached.