Procedure for asymptotic state and parameter estimation of nonlinear distributed parameter bioreactors

Due to measurement problem in biological variables, such as the biomass concentration and its specific growth rate, the on-line measurement of these variables is not ensured and this presents a great difficulty, especially when we consider the control problem. This paper presents and analyses an approach for estimating these biological variables through an example of a nonlinear distributed parameter bioreactor. An orthogonal collocation method is applied in the distributed system to obtain a system of ordinary differential equations. A simulation study shows the feasibility and the robustness of the estimator used for this nonlinear process.