Characterization of bioreaction processes: aerobic Escherichia coli cultures.

The simulation of a microbial transformation course is an important tool for the optimal design or characterization of industrial processes. Usually, models are developed to describe a specific part of the culture such as microbial growth and most of the time ignore the influence of physical and chemical environment on growth dynamics of the microorganism. In this work we propose a method which combines the description of the evolution of components involved in the bioprocess including biomass and the physical environment generated mainly by the bioreactor characteristics and operational conditions. Stoichiometric, kinetic, fluid dynamics and mass transfer models are linked to predict the course of the Escherichia coli culture under the influence of different experimental conditions and types of bioreactors. A set of 22 kinetic and physical parameters obtained from independent experiments and from literature are used in order to predict glucose, biomass, acetate, dissolved oxygen and CO(2) concentrations in airlift and stirred tank bioreactors.