The purpose of this volume is to describe the components, assembly, and implementation of computer-based process control systems. Presented in two sections, it illustrates how such systems have been used to monitor and control industrial fermentation processes as a means to improve our understanding of product biosynthesis. This book covers the fields of indirect parameter estimation and fermentation-specific control algorithms. It also includes chapters which describe system architecture and process application, process control, on-line liquid sampling and computer system architecture. This is an ideal source for anyone involved with biotechnology, bioengineering, microbial technology, chemical engineering, and computer control.

The purpose of this volume is to describe the components, assembly, and implementation of computer-based process control systems. Presented in two sections, it illustrates how such systems have been used to monitor and control industrial fermentation processes as a means to improve our understanding of product biosynthesis. This book covers the fields of indirect parameter estimation and fermentation-specific control algorithms. It also includes chapters which describe system architecture and process application, process control, on-line liquid sampling and computer system architecture. This is an ideal source for anyone involved with biotechnology, bioengineering, microbial technology, chemical engineering, and computer control.

Richard Fox Chairman, Scientific Programme Committee Between 25th and 29th September, 1988, 243 people who either apply or research the use of computers in fermentation gathered together at Robinson College, Cambridge, UK. They came from 30 countries. The conference brought together two traditions. Firstly, it continued the series on Computer Applications in Fermentation Technology (ICCAFT) inaugurated by Henri Blanchere in Dijon in 1973 and carried forward in Philadelphia and Manchester. Secondly, it brought the expertise of the many members of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), who focused their attention on biotechnology at Noordwijkerhout in the Netherlands in December, 1985. I am happy to say that the tradition carries on and a successor meeting will hopefully take place in the USA in 1991. If you find these proceedings useful or stimulating, then we hope to see you there. We set out to make ICCAFT4 a close-knit friendly conference. We housed all who cared to in Robinson College itself and organised no parallel sessions. Because we, the organisers, experience difficulty with the jargon of our colleagues from other disciplines, we asked Bruce Beck to present a breakfast tutorial on modern control and modelling techniques, and we set up informal panel discussions after dinner on two evenings. Neville Fish chaired a forum on the microbiological principles behind models, while Professors Derek Linkens and Ron Leigh led a discussion on expert systems in control.

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.

The concept of physiological state control of bioreactor systems is introduced along with extentive discussion on the characteristics of bioreactor control systems. A software system for the diagnosis of the physiological situation through the inference procedure utilizing a fuzzy set approach and a physiological state control system in a hierarchy structure are demonstrated. The control system was applied on the fed-batch coulture for phenylalanine production by a recombinant Escherichia coli. The investigation on the detection and control of physiological state variability in the continuous culture of the organisms is also demonstrated. [Author's abstract].

Software for Computer Control is a collection of papers and lectures presented at the Second IFAC/IFIP Symposium on Software for Computer Control, held in Prague, Czechoslovakia in June 1979. The symposium is organized with the hope of making vital contributions to the development of the computer sciences. The text focuses on the design and programming of process control systems used in various industrial processes and experiments. Topics covered include communication control in computer networks; program generators for process control applications; methods for the design of control software; presentations on software for microprocessors; real-time languages; algorithms for computer control; and applications of computer control in sciences. Computer scientists, systems analysts, programmers, and students of computer science will benefit from this book.

The 6th Computer Applications in Biotechnology (CAB6) conference was a continuation of 2 series of events: the IFAC symposia on Modelling and Control of Biotechnical Processes and the International Conferences on Computer Applications in Fermentation Technology. This conference provided the opportunity for both sides, leading researchers and industrial practitioners, in this interdisciplinary field to exchange new ideas and technology; concepts and solutions. This postprint volume contains all those papers which were presented at the conference.