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.

Modelling and Control of Biotechnological Processes contains the proceedings of the International Federation of Automatic Control's First Symposium on Modeling and Control of Biotechnological Processes held in Noordwijkerhout, The Netherlands, on December 11-13, 1985. The papers explore modeling and control of biotechnological processes such as fermentation and biological wastewater treatment. This book consists of 37 chapters divided into 11 sections and begins with a discussion on the control of fermentation processes; modeling of biotechnical processes; and application of measurement and estimation techniques to biotechnology. The following sections focus on adaptive control theory, applications of adaptive control, and control and modeling of bioreactors. The reader is also introduced to measurement techniques and sensors, with emphasis on pyrolysis mass spectrometry; rapid bioelectrochemical methods; and a self-tuning controller for multiloop controlled fed-batch fermentation. The remaining sections deal with parameter identification and estimation; Kalman filtering techniques; optimization of production processes; modeling of microkinetics; and optimization theory. This monograph will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the field of biotechnology.

Modeling and Control of Biotechnical Processes covers the proceedings of the First International Federation of Automatic Control Workshop by the same title, held in Helsinki, Finland on August 17-19, 1982. This book is organized into seven sections encompassing 37 chapters. The opening section deals with the measurement techniques in fermentation processes and the use of automated analyzers to control microbial processes. The next sections consider the concepts of bioreactor modeling and related problems, as well as the modeling and control of biological wastewater treatment processes. Other sections discuss the economic and static optimization, the computer control of production processes, and the application of estimation and identification methods to biotechnological processes. The final sections explore the principles of real-time analysis, use of computer control in specific biotechnical production, process control design, and the modeling of adaptive control. This book is of great value to biotechnologists, biochemists, and control engineers.