An experimental investigation of stability and multiplicity of steady states in a biological reactor

Abstract

Abstract The existence of multiple stable and unstable steady states in a continuous stirred tank biological reactor (CSTBR) was demonstrated experimentally for the first time. These experiments resulted in the determination of growth rate, yield and intermediate metabolite concentration data entirely from continuous culture. This information was used to qualitatively interpret the stability behavior in terms of the biochemistry and bioenergetics of substrate metabolism.