%A P Patnaik
%O Copyright of this article belongs toOntario Council of University.
%J Applied Mathematical Modelling
%T Dynamic sensitivity of a chemostat for a microbial reaction with substrate and product inhibition
%X A general microbial reaction with inhibition by its substrate and product has been analyzed for its time-varying sensitivities and the effect of step disturbances in the dilution rate and/or the feed substrate concentration. In the first part of the study, the sensitivities of a continuous well-mixed bioreactor with respect to the dilution rate, the feed substrate concentration, and the steady-state concentrations have been computed and compared with the sensitivities in batch mode, for which only the initial condition is applicable. The results are related to the physiological and hydrodynamic features of the reactor and show that continuous operation is less sensitive than batch operation; this enhances the benefits of the former. The second part of this paper considers the deviations in time for the concentrations of the cell mass, substrate, and product when there are step disturbances in the inflow stream. The deviation trajectories are interpreted in terms of the metabolic and flow processes. Using the concept of relaxation times, it is shown that the predicted results agree with reported data for gluconic acid production.


    
%N 11
%P 620-627
%V 18
%D 1994
%I Ontario Council of University 
%R doi:10.1016/0307-904X(94)90320-4
%L open713