Optimal switching control for microbial fed-batch culture

In fed-batch culture of glycerol bio-dissimilation to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), the aim of adding glycerol is to obtain as much 1,3-PD as possible. Hence, a proper feed strategy is required during the process. In this paper, we present an optimal switching control model based on our proposed controlled switching system. Some properties of the controlled switching system are obtained. Subsequently, we prove the existence of optimal control. In order to deduce the optimality conditions, we transcribe the optimal switching control model into an equivalent one with fixed switching instants and parameters. Finally, the optimality conditions of the equivalent problem are investigated by calculus of variations.     

Optimal switching control of a fed-batch fermentation process

Considering the hybrid nature in fed-batch culture of glycerol biconversion to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) by Klebsiella pneumoniae, we propose a state-based switching dynamical system to describe the fermentation process. To maximize the concentration of 1,3-PD at the terminal time, an optimal switching control model subject to our proposed switching system and constraints of continuous state inequality and control function is presented. Because the number of the switchings is not known a priori, we reformulate the above optimal control problem as a two-level optimization problem. An optimization algorithm is developed to seek the optimal solution on the basis of a heuristic approach and control parametrization technique. Numerical results show that, by employing the obtained optimal control strategy, 1,3-PD concentration at the terminal time can be increased considerably.     

Nonlinear impulsive system of microbial production in fed-batch culture and its optimal control

In this study the optimal control of fed-batch glycerol fermentation is investigated based on an impulsive dynamical system. Considering the sudden increase of the glycerol and alkali in fed-batch culture of biodissimilation of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol, this paper proposes a nonlinear impulsive system of fed-batch culture. The existence, uniqueness and regularity properties of piecewise solution for the system are proved. In view of the controllability of volumes of glycerol added to the reactor instantaneously, the paper constructs an optimal control model based on the nonlinear impulsive system and the existence of the optimal control is obtained. The control variables here are the moments and the sizes of jumps in the states at the discrete instants and the objective is to maximize the productivity of 1,3-propanediol over one cycle.     

Optimal control for nonlinear dynamical system of microbial fed-batch culture

In fed-batch culture of glycerol bio-dissimilation to 1, 3-propanediol (1, 3-PD), the aim of adding glycerol is to obtain as much 1, 3-PD as possible. So a proper feeding rate is required during the process. Taking the concentration of 1, 3-PD at the terminal time as the performance index and the feeding rate of glycerol as the control function, we propose an optimal control model subject to a nonlinear dynamical system and constraints of continuous state and non-stationary control. A computational approach is constructed to seek the solution of the above model in two aspects. On the one hand we transcribe the optimal control model into an unconstrained one based on the penalty functions and an extension of the state space; on the other hand, by approximating the control function with simple functions, we transform the unconstrained optimal control problem into a sequence of nonlinear programming problems, which can be solved using gradient-based optimization techniques. The convergence analysis of this approximation is also investigated. Numerical results show that, by employing the optimal control policy, the concentration of 1, 3-PD at the terminal time can be increased considerably.     

A numerical method for nonconvex multi-objective optimal control problems

A numerical method is proposed for constructing an approximation of the Pareto front of nonconvex multi-objective optimal control problems. First, a suitable scalarization technique is employed for the multi-objective optimal control problem. Then by using a grid of scalarization parameter values, i.e., a grid of weights, a sequence of single-objective optimal control problems are solved to obtain points which are spread over the Pareto front. The technique is illustrated on problems involving tumor anti-angiogenesis and a fed-batch bioreactor, which exhibit bang–bang, singular and boundary types of optimal control. We illustrate that the Bolza form, the traditional scalarization in optimal control, fails to represent all the compromise, i.e., Pareto optimal, solutions.     

微生物批式流加发酵多阶段最优控制的最优性条件

在微生物批式流加发酵生产1,3一丙二醇(1,3-PD)过程中,关键是如何控制甘油和碱的流加速度.本文将流加速度看成一个随时间变化的控制函数,提出一个带控制的多阶段动力系统描述批式发酵过程,并证明了系统的一些性质.以终端时刻1,3-PD的生产强度最大为性能指标,以上述动力系统和连续状态不等式为约束条件建立了最优控制模型,最后利用不可微优化理论得到了最优控制问题的最优性条件,并证明了最优性条件和最优性函数零点的等价性.     

Vector measure as controls for explicit nonlinear impulsive system of fed-batch culture

In this paper, we consider an optimal control problem of microbial fermentation process in which glycerol is converted to 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae in fed-batch culture. During the period of reaction, the variation of pH value is monitored to determine glycerol replenishment quantity, guaranteeing that microorganism can always keep growing fast under enough nutrition. Every time pH value is lower than seven, the quantity of glycerol added is such that pH value returns seven again. Glycerol is poured into reactor at discrete time instant and the quantity is controllable. The problem is to determine for each discrete time instant the glycerol quantity to add and maximize the final concentration of 1,3-propanediol. We present a controlled explicit nonlinear impulsive dynamical system of fed-batch culture with state independent vector measures as controls and study the existence, uniqueness, boundedness, continuous dependence and Gâteaux differentiability of its solution with respect to controls. We then propose a multiple objective programming model and demonstrate the regularity of cost functionals and weak compactness of admissible control set. Finally we discuss the existence of optimal control and implement a hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm to solve the model optimally. Computational results are presented on a numerical example.     

Sensitivity analysis and parameter identification for a nonlinear time-delay system in microbial fed-batch process

Developing suitable dynamic models of bioprocess is a difficult issue in bioscience. In this paper, considering the microbial metabolism mechanism, i.e., the production of new biomass is delayed by the amount of time it takes to metabolize the nutrients, in glycerol bioconversion to 1,3-propanediol, we propose a nonlinear time-delay system to formulate the fed-batch fermentation process. Some important properties are also discussed. Then, in view of the effect of time-delay and the high number of kinetic parameters in the system, the parametric sensitivity analysis is used to determine the key parameters. Finally, a parameter identification model is presented and a global optimization method is developed to seek the optimal key parameters. Numerical results show that the nonlinear time-delay system can describe the fed-batch fermentation process reasonably.     

Bilevel parameters identification for the multi-stage nonlinear impulsive system in microorganisms fed-batch cultures

Considering the abrupt jump of the substrate and different characters of the bacterial in the lag phase, the exponential phase and the stationary phase this paper proposes the multi-stage nonlinear impulsive system for the fed-batch fermentation from glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) and establishes the bilevel identification system for its sensitive parameters. The properties of the solutions for the nonlinear multi-stage dynamical system are investigated and identifiability of the parameters is proved. Finally an optimal algorithm is constructed to obtain the optimal solution of the identification model and the numerical example is then discussed to illustrate the algorithm.     

Optimality condition of the nonlinear impulsive system in fed-batch fermentation

Based on the nonlinear impulsive system of fed-batch fermentation, which is used in the process of bio-dissimilation of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae, this paper is concerned with the optimal control of the volumes of infused glycerol at impulsive moments. The optimal control model is developed. The authors study the properties of both the nonlinear impulsive system and the solution of it, and ascertain the existence of the optimal control. Then the optimality condition is obtained, which can be used as a necessary condition that the optimal control should satisfy.     

Effects of diversity control in single-objective and multi-objective genetic algorithms

This paper covers an investigation on the effects of diversity control in the search performances of single-objective and multi-objective genetic algorithms. The diversity control is achieved by means of eliminating duplicated individuals in the population and dictating the survival of non-elite individuals via either a deterministic or a stochastic selection scheme. In the case of single-objective genetic algorithm, onemax and royal road R ₁ functions are used during benchmarking. In contrast, various multi-objective benchmark problems with specific characteristics are utilised in the case of multi-objective genetic algorithm. The results indicate that the use of diversity control with a correct parameter setting helps to prevent premature convergence in single-objective optimisation. Furthermore, the use of diversity control also promotes the emergence of multi-objective solutions that are close to the true Pareto optimal solutions while maintaining a uniform solution distribution along the Pareto front.     

Nonlinear hybrid system and parameter identification of microbial fed-batch culture with open loop glycerol input and pH logic control

In this paper, we study the fed-batch fermentation of glycerol by Klebsiella pneumoniae with open loop glycerol input and pH logic control using a flow of alkali as manipulated variable. A nonlinear hybrid system is developed to describe this process. We prove the finiteness of switching numbers of the system in terms of bounded variation and explore the existence and uniqueness of the solutions. Additionally, a parameter identification problem is proposed and an asynchronous parallel particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is constructed to solve it. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the algorithm and reveal that the proposed model could describe the fed-batch process properly.     

Parameter identification and optimization algorithm in microbial continuous culture

In this study, a novelty mathematical model is established to formulate the continuous culture of glycerol to 1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PD) by Klebsiella pneumoniae, in which the inhibition of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) to cells growth and activity of some enzymes (such as glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) and 1,3-PD oxidoreductase (PDOR)), and the passive diffusion and active transport of glycerol and 1,3-PD across cell membrane are all taken into consideration. Taking the mean relative error between the experimental data and calculated values as the performance index, a parameter identification model involving multiple nonlinear dynamic systems is presented. The identifiability of the parameter identification model is also proved. Finally, an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is constructed to find the optimal parameters for the systems under substrate limitation and excess conditions, respectively. Numerical results not only show that the established model can be used to describe the continuous fermentation reasonably, but also the improved PSO algorithm is valid.     

Discrete optimal control model and bound error for microbial continuous fermentation

A discrete optimal control model is given according to the discrete nonlinear dynamic system of continuous fermentations of glycerol to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD). The property of some major functions and their bounds on approximation errors are studied in this paper. Then, the conclusion that the optimality function of discrete optimal control model is the consistent approximation to one of the continuous optimal control model is proved. The results presented in this work can be used as guidelines for the optimal algorithm and its convergence.     

Pruned Pareto-optimal sets for the system redundancy allocation problem based on multiple prioritized objectives

In this paper, a new methodology is presented to solve different versions of multi-objective system redundancy allocation problems with prioritized objectives. Multi-objective problems are often solved by modifying them into equivalent single objective problems using pre-defined weights or utility functions. Then, a multi-objective problem is solved similar to a single objective problem returning a single solution. These methods can be problematic because assigning appropriate numerical values (i.e., weights) to an objective function can be challenging for many practitioners. On the other hand, methods such as genetic algorithms and tabu search often yield numerous non-dominated Pareto optimal solutions, which makes the selection of one single best solution very difficult. In this research, a tabu search meta-heuristic approach is used to initially find the entire Pareto-optimal front, and then, Monte-Carlo simulation provides a decision maker with a pruned and prioritized set of Pareto-optimal solutions based on user-defined objective function preferences. The purpose of this study is to create a bridge between Pareto optimality and single solution approaches.