APPLICATION OF ONLINE NEAR-INFRARED ANALYZER TO PROCESS-CONTROL IN FERMENTATION PLANT

Aiming for stable operation and rationalization of a fermentation plant, a near-infrared analyser was introduced into the on-line analysing system of the fermentation process. An on-line sampling system with a defoaming apparatus was applied to a fermenter in a commercial scale plant. A new efficient method for obtaining highly accurate calibration curves of the near-infrared analyser was presented. The established method for on-line determination of the main components in the fermentation medium for amino acid production was applied to a real-time measurement system in a commercial fermentation plant. The pattern of sugar concentration change was successfully obtained on a real-time basis. The system was partially incorporated into operation control, even if there was room for improvement of analytical accuracy in response to raw material differences in each lot.