The significance of fermenter monitoring to control the fermentation process

With the development of the economy and the improvement of technology, more and more attention has been paid to the quality and yield of fermentation products. In the past decades, more and more biotechnologies have been applied in the food industry and pharmaceutical industry, among others. These technologies are studied based on the most critical step in the fermentation process: control and monitoring,so today we will talk about this topic.
 

Fermenter monitoring

The monitoring technology of fermentation process is to continuously or semi-continuously test the fermentation process using various testing means and optimize the fermentation process based on the test results.Fermentation process monitoring mainly includes: cell concentration monitoring, respiration rate monitoring, pH monitoring, DO monitoring and temperature monitoring, etc.
 

Fermenter control

1. Types of control
The control of the fermentation process refers to the regulation of the physiological state of microorganisms and changes in the concentration of metabolites under certain conditions in order to obtain the maximum yield or the minimum consumption.It can be divided into online control and offline control. Online control refers to real-time monitoring of parameters on the fermenter; while offline control refers to experimental operation on the fermenter and timely feedback of the data obtained during the experimental operation back to the fermenter for parameter adjustment.

2. Methods of control
(1) Biosensor method：Various microorganisms and corresponding physical and chemical sensors are used to monitor microbial growth and product accumulation during the fermentation process.
(2) Signal control method：The feedback control principle is used to regulate the fermentation process.
(3) Microbial growth model method：A mathematical model is used to describe the growth and metabolic patterns of microorganisms under conditions.
(4) Chemical signal control method：Various chemical signals required in the process of microbial cell growth or product accumulation are detected, and then the signals are processed using the corresponding mathematical models to achieve automatic control of microbial growth or product accumulation.
(5) Pulse control method：Automatic control of microbial cell growth or product accumulation processes is achieved by using pulsed signals at certain frequencies during the fermentation process.