DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF THE CHEMOSTAT SUBJECT TO PRODUCT INHIBITION

Abstract

Theoretical study was made on the transient behavior of a single-vessel continuous fermentation in which the growth of a microorganism is inhibited by its product. When the product formation was negatively growth-associated, occurrence of diverging as well as damped oscillations was shown with the analog computer. No oscillation could be observed, on the other hand, when the product formation was either completely growth-associated, completely non-growth associated, or partially growth-associated. The present model for a product-inhibited chemostat covers the Stepanova-Romanovskii model as one of its special cases, while it is in parallel with the Ramkrishna- Fredrickson-Tsuchiya model that deals with a chemostat in which one of its products has a cell-killing effect on the microorganism.