Abstract This work presents the proposal and experimental validation of an online optimization strategy for maximizing the hydrogen production rate (HPR) in an anaerobic bioreactor through the dark fermentation of glucose. The proposal comprises a heuristic optimization strategy, a coupled nonlinear observer, and a PI controller to track the desired maximum HPR. The optimization is achieved by solving online a nonlinear programming problem which considers the relation between the HPR and the organic loading rate (OLR), such that the latter is manipulated to maximize the former. Since the OLR requires online knowledge of the unmeasured influent substrate concentration, the nonlinear observer is used to estimate it using measurements of the hydrogen flow rate at the output of the bioreactor. This observer comprises the coupled operation of a robust Luenberger observer and a super-twisting observer. The proposal was designed and tested experimentally in a continuous stirred tank laboratory bioreactor fed with glucose, and the results are very promising.

中文翻译：

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应用于生物制氢暗发酵罐的在线监测和优化策略的实验验证

摘要 这项工作提出了一种在线优化策略的提议和实验验证，该策略通过葡萄糖的暗发酵来最大化厌氧生物反应器中的产氢率 (HPR)。该提议包括启发式优化策略、耦合非线性观察器和用于跟踪所需最大 HPR 的 PI 控制器。优化是通过在线求解非线性规划问题来实现的，该问题考虑了 HPR 和有机负载率 (OLR) 之间的关系，从而操纵后者使前者最大化。由于 OLR 需要未测量的流入底物浓度的在线知识，非线性观测器用于通过测量生物反应器输出处的氢气流速来估计它。该观测器包括鲁贝格观测器和超扭曲观测器的耦合操作。该提议是在连续搅拌罐实验室生物反应器中以葡萄糖为原料进行设计和实验测试的，结果非常有希望。