Dynamic global sensitivity analysis in bioreactor networks for bioethanol production

OCHOA, M.P.; ESTRADA, V.; DI MAGGIO, J.; HOCH, P.M.

BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Año: 2016 vol. 200 p. 666 - 679

0960-8524

Dynamic global sensitivity analysis (GSA) was performed for three different dynamic bioreactor models of increasing complexity: a fermenter for bioethanol production, a bioreactors network, where two types of bioreactors were considered: aerobic for biomass production and anaerobic for bioethanol production and a co-fermenter bioreactor, to identify the parameters that most contribute to uncertainty in model outputs. Sobol´s method was used to calculate time profiles for sensitivity indices. Numerical results have shown the time-variant influence of uncertain parameters on model variables. Most influential model parameters have been determined. For the model of the bioethanol fermenter, μmax (maximum growth rate) and Ks (half-saturation constant) are the parameters with largest contribution to model variables uncertainty; in the bioreactors network, the most influential parameter is μmax,1 (maximum growth rate in bioreactor 1); whereas λ (glucose-to-total sugars concentration ratio in the feed) is the most influential parameter over all model variables in the co-fermentation bioreactor.