Evaluating Evolutionary Algorithms and Differential Evolution for the Online Optimization of Fermentation Processes

Abstract. Although important contributions have been made in re-cent years within the field of bioprocess model development and val-idation, in many cases the utility of even relatively good models for process optimization with current state-of-the-art algorithms (mostly of-fline approaches) is quite low. The main cause for this is that open-loop fermentations do not compensate for the differences observed between model predictions and real variables, whose consequences can lead to quite undesirable consequences. In this work, the performance of two different algorithms belonging to the main groups of Evolutionary Al-gorithms (EA) and Differential Evolution (DE) is compared in the task of online optimisation of fed-batch fermentation processes. The proposed approach enables to obtain results close to the ones predicted initially by the mathematical models of the process, deals well with the noise in state variables and exhibits properties of graceful degradation. When compar-ing the optimization algorithms, the DE seems the best alternative, but its superiority seems to decrease when noisier settings are considered