Microalgae are used for the industrial production of high value compounds. The aim in continuous bioreactors is to obtain the highest biomass production. It is necessary to guarantee that the bioprocesses attain and maintain the optimal reference biomass C_X*(t), despite endogenous and exogenous disturbances. This paper describes the numerical simulation of the application of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) to control the dilution rate (D(t)) in a continuous culture of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris. To reduce the bioprocess to a “SISO” system, the authors chose the dilution rate, D(t), to be the only control signal. The control proposal was illustrated and evaluated through a numerical simulation using MATLAB/Simulink™ environment. The performance of the ADRC was tested by the application of external perturbations and variation of parameters over a nominal case. At nominal conditions, D(t) was always maintained within the physical limits imposed by the bioprocess. Step and smooth type signals, at 96.4%·|D_max(t)|, were imposed as external perturbation on the control signal input, D(t). The controller response kept the output signal C_X(t) within an insignificant 0.0043%·|C_Xmax(t)|. The algal culture had a strongly asymmetric response to variations of the ideal maximum growth rate, μ_max(t) ± 30%·|μ_max(t)|, and of the nominal light intensity, I_in(t) ± 30%·|I_in(t)|. Nonetheless, the controller promptly returned the output signal to its reference value, C_X(t)*. The numerical test of the control proposal, in summary, showed that the ADRC strategy ensures excellent reference tracking capability and robustness towards parametric uncertainties, un-modeled dynamics, and external disturbances.

微藻用于工业生产高价值的化合物。连续生物反应器的目的是获得最高的生物量产量。尽管存在内源性和外源性干扰，但必须确保生物过程获得并维持最佳参考生物量C _X *（t）。本文描述了在微藻小球藻连续培养中应用主动干扰抑制控制（ADRC）来控制稀释率（D（t））的数值模拟。为了将生物过程简化为“ SISO”系统，作者选择了稀释率D（t），成为唯一的控制信号。通过使用MATLAB / Simulink™环境的数值模拟对控制建议进行了说明和评估。ADRC的性能通过在标称情况下施加外部扰动和参数变化进行了测试。在标称条件下，D（t）始终保持在生物过程施加的物理限制内。步进和平滑型信号，为96.4％·| D _max（t）|作为外部扰动施加在控制信号输入D（t）上。控制器的响应使输出信号C _X（t）保持在0.0043％的微小范围内。C _Xmax（t）|。藻类培养不得不理想的最大生长速率，的变化的强烈不对称的响应μ_最大（吨）±30％·| μ_最大（吨）|，和标称光强度的，我_在（吨）±30％·| 我_在（t）|中。尽管如此，控制器仍迅速将输出信号返回到其参考值C _X（t）*。总而言之，对控制方案的数值测试表明，ADRC策略可确保出色的参考跟踪能力以及对参数不确定性，未建模动力学和外部干扰的鲁棒性。