Modeling and simulation of biotechnological processes: BIOSIM—A package suitable for integration in process engineering tools

Abstract A bioreactor can be represented as a heterogeneous system with at least three structural phases: the liquid and the gas, which together form the abiotic environment, and the biological phase, which consists of the cell population. The modeling of the bioreactor in our work is based on the zone cell network model for the stirred tank reactor containing two physical phases. In addition, devices in the reactor periphery and process control functions can be simulated. The models for process engineering and biological processes are formulated separately and implemented in a suitable program structure. The program enables to calculate different combinations of biological models and submodels in a process technology context. Different aspects of process technology (feeding strategies, control loops) can be included in the dynamic simulation. The modular integration of the biological phase models into the program structure also allows the transfer to complex network of zones modeling approaches.