INCLUDING DISSOLVED OXYGEN DYNAMICS INTO THE Bt δ-ENDOTOXINS PRODUCTION PROCESS MODEL AND ITS APPLICATION TO PROCESS CONTROL

This paper proposes a model to characterize the Dissolved Oxygen Dynamics (DO) for the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) delta-endotoxins production process. The objective of this work is to include this dynamics into a phenomenological model of the process in order to facilitate the biomass estimation from the knowledge of oxygen consumption; and for control purposes, by allowing the addition of a new control variable in order to favorably influence the bioprocess evolution. The mentioned DO model is based on first principles and parameter estimation and model verification are supported by real experimental data. Finally, a control strategy is designed based on this model with its corresponding asymptotic stability and robustness analysis.