Abstract

--- - In this article, the problem of real-time estimation of the fermentative ethanol process is tackled. The considered observer is a model-based technique that is robust regarding the model parameter uncertainties and inline noisy measurements. An unstructured kinetic model was used to describe the production of ethanol in a batch bioreactor for Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The biomass concentration was selected as the measured bioreactor ' s output via an inline device, where the estimate variables were the substrate and ethanol concentrations. An experimental prototype was constructed to demonstrate the observer's real-time performance. The experimental results show that the robust, smooth sliding mode observer performs better than the standard proportional sliding mode observer. - In this article, a virtual sensor robust to uncertainties is implemented to face the problem of the real-time estimation of the ethanol fermentation process. The methodology allows estimation of the ethanol and substrate concentrations. A low-cost sensor for the online measurements of the biomass concentration as an input to the observers allows the strategy to validate the experimental proof of concept. image