Single and multi-objective dynamic optimization study of an industrial scale fed batch reactor

The present work focuses on obtaining optimal operational policies of an industrial scale penicillin fed-batch fermentation process using dynamic optimization (DO). The three process objectives considered in this work include, maximization of total penicillin formed (J(1)), minimization of total biomass formed (J(2)), and minimization of fed-batch operation time (J(3)). The control variables for the optimization study include, the feed flowrates of sugar, soyabean oil, and phenylacetic. We perform a single-objective optimization study with J(1) as the objective function and showcased the importance of DO. Consequently, we solve three multi-objective optimization (MOO) problems corresponding to all the pairwise combinations of the aforementioned three objectives. Outcomes of MOO problems are presented in terms of several non-dominated Pareto-optimal solutions. Furthermore, descriptive analysis of three representative Pareto points for all the MOO problems is presented, which highlights the importance of MOO study of the penicillin bio-reactor.