ABSTRACT Designing of bioreactors is a very complex process and requires the clear understanding of the biological phenomena occurring during the process and the development of best suitable reactor for bringing out the product in an economically viable, large scale form. The conventional techniques currently in uses are very time consuming and some of their steps may even be based on trial and error format. Therefore there is a need to look towards advanced techniques in the designing of these bioreactors. One such technique is to use computational modeling in the design and simulation of reactors. For this purpose software such as MATLAB are ideal as they can be used to study various factors such as transport phenomena, reaction kinetics, derivation of complex kinetic equations, design of the bioreactor and its simulation. These systems can also be combined with software for computational fluid dynamics, etc. The other technique in place is use of mathematical modeling of reactions. Several mathematical modeling techniques that have been in use for this purpose in recent times are narmax model, wavelet model (with bootstrap), neural networks and the latest one being fuzzy logic. The use of these techniques makes it very easy and cost effective to design reactors for specific needs and in cases where similar production procedures do not exist. This can reduce the time taken in the development of reactors.
KEYWORDS: Bioreactor designing, reaction kinetics, transport phenomena, reactor simulation, computational modeling, MATLAB, narmax model, wavelet model, neural networks, fuzzy logic.
INTRODUCTION Bioreactors are one of the most important parts of technological production system. The choosing proper reactor and setting optimal parameters of its work are crucial for optimum results during production. The complexity of the bioreactor lies in the number of input parameters
References: • Computers Chem. Eng., vol. 22, pp. 201–213, 1998. • ing Transaction, pages 173–178, 2005.