A NONLINEAR APPROACH FOR THE ONLINE ESTIMATION OF THE KINETIC RATES IN BIOREACTORS - APPLICATION TO A LACTIC-ACID PRODUCTION PROCESS

The objective of this paper is to propose simple nonlinear observer-ba sed estimators which allow the online estimation of kinetic rates insi de a bioreactor from the measurements of components' concentrations. T he design of these estimators does not require any model for the kinet ic rates and the corresponding gains do not necessitate the resolution of any dynamical system. One of the main characteristics of these est imators lies in the easiness of their implementation and in particular their calibration. Their performances are firstly illustrated in simu lation through a typical example. Then, estimation results correspondi ng to a real-life experiment are given in order to confirm the theoret ical results and to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed estimat ors in practical situations.