Control of yeast fed-batch process through regulation of extracellular ethanol concentration

At high growth rates, the biomass yield of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) decreases due to the production of ethanol. For this reason, it is standard industrial practice to use a fed-batch process whereby the specific growth rate, mu, is fixed at a level below the point of ethanol production, i.e., mucrit. Optimally, growth should be maintained at mucrit, but in practice, this is difficult because mucrit is dependent upon strain and culture conditions. In this work, growth was maintained at a point just above mucrit by regulating ethanol concentration in the bioreactor. The models used for control design are shown, as are the experimental results obtained when this strategy was implemented. This technique should be applicable to all microorganisms that exhibit an "overflow" type metabolism.