Progress in Industrial Microbiology: v. 25

This volume in the Progress in Industrial Microbiology series describes many aspects of the use of computers in fermentation technology. The introduction of advanced computer hardware for fermentation control pre-dated, to some extent, the availability of suitable control software. As recently as five years ago, it was not uncommon for major fermentation plants to have installed ``state-of-the-art'' computing facilities which were subsequently used as little more than intelligent recording systems. Fermentation technology has now caught up with the other manufacturing sciences in the implementation of advanced computing methodology, but the problems are more demanding due to ``biological variability'' - a phenomenon which characterises all processes involving cell cultures. In this volume two approaches to the problem are described, one involving optimisation statistics in fermentation process design and the other concentrating on the use of models for control purposes, describing the use of the Kalman Filter for real-time process optimisation and control. The first chapter introduces the opportunities made possible by the implementation of computer systems.
 
This volume in the Progress in Industrial Microbiology series describes many aspects of the use of computers in fermentation technology. The introduction of advanced computer hardware for fermentation control pre-dated, to some extent, the availability of suitable control software. As recently as five years ago, it was not uncommon for major fermentation plants to have installed ``state-of-the-art'' computing facilities which were subsequently used as little more than intelligent recording systems. Fermentation technology has now caught up with the other manufacturing sciences in the implementation of advanced computing methodology, but the problems are more demanding due to ``biological variability'' - a phenomenon which characterises all processes involving cell cultures. In this volume two approaches to the problem are described, one involving optimisation statistics in fermentation process design and the other concentrating on the use of models for control purposes, describing the use of the Kalman Filter for real-time process optimisation and control. The first chapter introduces the opportunities made possible by the implementation of computer systems.