Cybernetic structured modeling of the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates by Alcaligenes eutrophus

This paper presents a cybernetic structured mathematical model developed fo r the fermentation step of the process of production of the copolymer of po lyhydroxyalkanoates by the bacteria Alcaligenes eutrophus. This process is performed in two different fermentation stages. The first emphasizes the gr owth of the microorganism in a batch operation without substrates limitatio ns, while in the second, the focus is on copolymer production by a fed-batc h operation in the absence of the nitrogen source. This paper presents the results of the treatment of experimental data and of preliminary parameter estimation. The fitting of the proposed model to the experimental data of a standard experiment showed a good agreement.