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# Institution of Chemical Engineers
Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001

AN IMPROVED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FOAMS

PRODUCED WITHIN BIOREACTORS
A. K. BROWN1 , C. ISBELL2 , S. GALLAGHER3 , P. W. DODD4 and J. VARLEY1
1
Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine,
Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology,
London, UK
2
Neusciences, Totton, UK
3
Charis Technology, Maidstone, UK
4
Avecia Ltd, Billingham, UK

A
novel approach is described for monitoring fermentation foams created by Pseudo-
monas sp. This approach uses a new foam sensor that provides a continuous on-line
conductance measurement of the foam as a function of the height of foam within the
vessel headspace. The conductance signal in the foam is dependent on the liquid hold-up and
the ionic concentration of the liquid contained in the foam structure. By using correlations from
the literature, the liquid fraction in the foam can be estimated from the conductance measured
in the foam. The effect of changing the process conditions during the fermentation has been
investigated. The results from these fermentations have been used to develop a preliminary
neural network model for this particular process that will be used to provide a future prediction
of the foaming behaviour inside the vessel. This prediction will eventually be used to formulate
an appropriate foam control strategy for this fermentation process. The aim of the new foam
control system will be to minimize antifoam additions (if required) and enable enhanced
control of the foam via changes in the process variables.

Keywords: foam control; neural networks; process control; conductivity.

INTRODUCTION oxygen transfer1, extra downstream processing require-

Many commercially important biological products are
produced at large scale using fermentation processes in
closed bioreactors with microbial organisms. Due to the
presence of surface-active materials that could be present
initially in the culture medium or excreted by the organism
during the process and the intense agitation=aeration
required for acceptable oxygen transfer for microbial
growth, foams are easily generated in aerobic microbial
fermentations. The presence of foams in bioreactors is not
generally desirable for the following reasons:
(i) loss of cells and substrate into the foam can reduce
process productivity;
(ii) foam production can lead to microbial containment
issues and loss of process sterility;
(iii) foaming can lead to fouling of probes which can result
in poor process control.
Current Methods for Foam Control
There are various strategies used to control fermentation
foams (i.e. chemical and physical methods). Chemical
antifoaming agents can be very efŽ cient at reducing
foam. However, these chemicals can result in depleted
ments2 and product formation inhibition3. Also, the cost
of antifoam additions for large-scale operations is often
very signiŽ cant. Physical methods (e.g. mechanical impel-
lers) for destroying the foam, operate by subjecting the
foam to shear stress but lead to considerable extra power
requirements4 especially at large scale operation and may
not be suitable under conditions of excessive foaming. In
commercial fermentation processes, the limitations of exist-
ing antifoam methods can result in operation of bioreactors
at below maximum volume capacity, resulting in reduced
productivity. Ideally, it would be beneŽ cial to operate the
fermentation using only minimal antifoam and a high
working volume; this conŽ guration would maximize
productivity and simplify downstream processing.
Currently, chemical antifoam methods rely at most on a
dual-point conductivity measurement of a local region of
foam inside the vessel headspace. This simple on-off
control system merely indicates that foam is present
inside the vessel, there is no information pertaining to the
physical condition or dynamics of the foam, thus it is not
possible to predict whether the foam will continue to rise or
will passively collapse without addition of antifoam. More-
over, it may be possible to control foam by changing only
certain process conditions without affecting process perfor-
mance or necessitating chemical antifoam additions.

114
 IMPROVED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FOAMS WITHIN BIOREACTORS
Neural Networks in Biotechnology
Neural networks have been used to predict the optimum
harvest time for various fermentation processes5–7 and also
for fault recognition within a fermentation at an early stage8.
Most of these applications have been driven toward a need
for limiting the operating time and therefore Ž nancial over-
heads. The neural network uses on-line information relating
to biomass or product formation (i.e. carbon dioxide evolu-
tion rate) and obtains a future prediction of the ‘target’
parameter (in this case product=biomass) which is relayed to
the process operators. The successful use of neural networks
in the above applications is based on the ability of a neural
network to ‘learn’ how a particular process or physical
system behaves. This ‘learning’ capability is possible by
‘training’ the neural network by example. A typical ‘train-
ing’ regime could involve the submission of known biomass
concentrations and carbon dioxide evolution rate data over a
known time period. The neural network ‘learns’ the relation-
ship between, in this case, biomass concentration and
carbon dioxide evolution rate without requiring any extra
information from the operators. It is this property of the
neural network that makes its use so attractive in situations
where the complexity of a particular process makes conven-
tional structured modelling a formidable task. Thus, the
effort required for parameter value determination needed for
structured models is removed and the time consumed in
model development is substantially reduced. It is these
features, which have made neural networks attractive for
industrial applications. However, a major drawback of
neural network applications is that little information with
regard to the physical=chemical processes governing the
overall system can be elucidated. Thus, the neural network
is usually described as a ‘black-box’ approach to process
modelling. The application of neural networks in the present
work is potentially useful owing to the complex inter-
dependent relationships governing the foaming process
inside a bioreactor. These factors include physical and
chemical parameters, some of which would be extremely
difŽ cult to determine and to then include into a structured
model for predicting the foaming behaviour for this parti-
cular process. Moreover, there is no general structured
model available which would allow prediction of foaming
behaviour. Therefore, the use of neural networks for the
current application is justiŽ ed.
Conductimetric Measurement of Foams
Conductimetric methods for measuring the properties of
foams have been extensively used9. These methods rely on
conduction of electrical charge via the ionic species present
in a liquid. The charge is usually passed between two
platinum plates of known dimensions, so that the conduc-
tivity of the solution10 is given by equation (1):
s = Ly = 10- 3 ci z i l i (1)
where s is the (speciŽ c) conductivity (siemens cm- 1), L is
the conductance (siemens), y is the cell constant (cm- 1),
ci is the molar concentration of the ith ion, zi is the valency
and li is the molar equivalent conductivity (siemens
cm2 mole- 1). The cell constant is deŽ ned as the ratio of
the length between a pair of measurement electrodes and the
area of a single electrode.
Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001
115
The conductivity relating to a speciŽ c location within the
foam can be converted into a corresponding liquid hold-up
using the ratio of the conductivities in the foam and bulk
liquid and the liquid fraction in the foam11, as shown in
equation (2):
sf
= k . fl (2)
sl
where sf and sl are the conductivities of the foam and bulk
liquid respectively, k is a constant (value reported to be
0.33)11 and fl is the liquid fraction in the foam. Equation (2)
has been shown to deviate from linearity at higher liquid
fractions (~10% v=v) due to swelling of the plateau borders
within the foam structure12. In the present work, the conduc-
tivity of the bulk liquid was measured off-line (see below).
The foam probe conductance value can be converted into
an equivalent foam conductivity value for the foam probe
using equation (3)13:
ln(b=a)
s= (3)
2plR
where R is the resistance (ohms) (1=R = conductance
(siemens)), b; a and l are diameter of vessel from probe
centre to wall (here 15 cm) (probe was positioned centrally
in vessel), diameter of foam probe (here 1.2 cm), conduc-
tivity (siemens cm- 1) and the length of the probe segment
(here 2.0 cm), respectively. This equation can only be used
for concentric conductors; in this case, the foam probe and
the vessel wall.
Research Objectives
This research aim is to address the limitations of current
technology by developing an improved measurement and
control system for fermentation foams. A new foam probe
has been developed by Charis Technology that enables on-
line foam conductance to be measured at various points
within the vessel headspace. These conductance values
can be related to the liquid hold-up in the foam using
equations (2) and (3). Information from the foam probe is
used to develop neural network models of the foaming
process for a particular fermentation process. In addition,
it is the aim to qualitatively predict the effect of changing
process variables (i.e. gas  ow rate, agitation rate etc.), on
the foaming behaviour inside the fermenter. In the longer
term, it is envisaged that a fully developed neural network
integrated with the new foam probe and existing antifoam
technology will give superior control over current foam
control methods. By ‘training’ the neural network with a
range of operating conditions to obtain foams with various
characteristics (i.e. different liquid hold-up=bubble size=
stability), predictions of the foam properties and ‘foam-
out’ possibility will be determined. The neural network
will then decide if antifoam is needed or a change in
operating conditions can prevent ‘foam-out’. In this paper,
it is intended to illustrate the potential of the new
approach to the control of fermentation foams. Therefore,
preliminary neural network model development based on
the foam probe data is presented.
116 BROWN et al.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials
The foam probe and antifoam controller were manufac-
tured by Charis Technology Ltd (Maidstone, UK). The
fermentation process controller and software were supplied
by BM Brownes, Ltd (Reading, UK). The video camera was
kindly lent by the EPSRC (Didcot, UK). NeuFrame (version
4) software was supplied by NeuSciences (Totton, UK).

Methods
Fermenter design
The fermenter used for this research is shown in Figure 1.
The fermenter has a high aspect ratio (3.7:1) to allow for the
formation of foam in the headspace. The probes (except the
foam probe) are located at the bottom of the vessel, rather
than in the head-plate, to prevent interference with conduc- Figure 2. Diagram of the foam probe used inside the fermenter vessel. The
tance readings from the foam probe (for larger scale opera- dashed lines represent the measurement region of each probe segment.
tion it is envisaged that probes could be located through the
head-plate). Also, the vessel is constructed from stainless
steel. The foam probe is placed through a central port on the
region. This measurement region is also shown in
head-plate. All additions to the fermenter were made
Figure 2 and encompasses a circular ‘slice’ through the
through the head-plate.
headspace region (hence the term ‘segment’). The shape of
the circular slice is maintained by the interaction of the
Foam sensor design electric Ž eld from each segment with that from neighbouring
The foam probe is shown in Figure 2. The probe consists of electrodes. The control strategy used for controlling the foam
7 electrodes or segments. Each segment is electrically isolated is shown in Figure 3. The foam control strategy was as
from all other segments and has a deŽ ned measurement follows: if the signal from segment 5 was greater than
3000 mSiemens then antifoam was added to the vessel head-
space. The antifoam pump duration of operation could be
deŽ ned by the operator and was typically 1 or 4 seconds.

Continuous fermentation of Pseudomonas sp.

The vessel was sterilized whilst empty at 121° C for 30
minutes. Following vessel sterilization, fermentation medium
was pumped into the vessel via a 0.2 mm Ž lter. The dissolved
oxygen probe was calibrated in the sterilized batch fermen-
tation medium at the required process temperature. The
pH probe was calibrated prior to autoclaving the vessel;
occasionally the pH calibration was adjusted following

Figure 1. Diagram of fermenter vessel used in this study. The vessel has a
diameter of 15 cm and a height of 55 cm (aspect ratio = 3.7:1). The
impellers are positioned at 5.5 cm and 16 cm from the base of the vessel.
The width and length of the impeller blades is 1.5 cm. The impeller
diameter: vessel diameter ratio is 0.5. The over ow weir is positioned at
the height required to give 5.5 litres of working volume. Figure 3. The foam control strategy used during the fermentations.

Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001

 IMPROVED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FOAMS WITHIN BIOREACTORS
sterilization. The foam probe did not require calibration but
was checked for abnormal functioningby recording the signal
from air and also by creating a short-circuit across each
segment with an earth lead containing a resistor; this arrange-
ment yielded a value of 100 mS for each segment indicating
proper foam probe functioning. For pH control, 7 M ammo-
nium hydroxide and 1 M hydrochloric acid were added as
required. Foam control was achieved by addition of antifoam
(see above). Dissolved oxygen control is described below.
Temperature was controlled using an electrical heater and by
adjusting the  ow of water through an internal cooling Ž nger.
The overall process was controlled by a BM Brownes
DCU fermentation controller linked to MFCS=Win software
on a Pentium II 300 MHz (6 Gbyte hard disk) PC which was
used to control the fermentation process and record the
following variables on-line: dissolved oxygen, air- ow rate,
oxygen enriched air- ow rate, pH, temperature, agitation
rate and acid=base additions. Antifoam additions were
logged off-line but could be calculated from the foam
probe data. The inoculum volume was 10% v=v of the
fermenter volume. After the culture had reached mid-
exponential phase the feed pump was activated to give a
dilution rate of 0.07 h- 1, the speciŽ c growth rate of the
organism was determined in batch mode experiments to be
0.40 h- 1. At this point the data logger from the foam probe
was activated; the signal from the foam probe was recorded
every ten seconds, however, if the antifoam pump was
activated then foam probe data was logged once every
second until the foam had collapsed completely. The process
reached steady state after three complete changes of work-
ing volume i.e. 48 hours after switching the feed pump on.
In addition and on a daily basis the culture was diluted,
cultured onto nutrient agar plates and incubated at 20, 25
and 30° C in duplicate to check for process contamination.
Also, samples were visually examined under a microscope
following Gram staining, to again check for contamination.
Sample analysis
Samples were taken from the fermenter twice daily and
stored at - 20° C. In addition the following off-line variables
were measured immediately after sampling from the vessel
(all measurements were conducted in duplicate and at
28° C).
Off-line conductivity
The conductivity of the bulk liquid was measured using a
conventional conductivity probe, which was calibrated with
potassium chloride standard solution. All conductivity
measurements reported correspond to the temperature used
in the fermentation process.
Biomass
The biomass concentration was determined indirectly by
measuring the optical density of the culture at 600 nm (after
appropriate dilution). Optical density was converted into
biomass using the linear equation obtained from a pre-
determined calibration graph between these two variables.
Visual observation of the foam within the vessel
A video camera was used to visually record the foam
within the vessel during the fermentation. Foam height
Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001
117
measurements were manually recorded from the resulting
Ž lm. The video camera and the data-logging software for the
foam probe and process data were synchronized time-wise.
Neural network modelling
All data preparation was undertaken either in Excel or
using the DataTools component present in NeuFrame v.4.
Subsequent model training was carried out in NeuFrame.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The following discussion relates to data collected after
the fermentation had reached steady state, i.e. constant bio-
mass with respect to time. The biomass was constant after
about 48 hours of operation and from this point remained
constant throughout the entire process. The biomass yield
with respect to the substrate at steady state was 0.28 g cells g
substrate- 1.
Foam Probe Response to Foam Production in Vessel
A typical response from the foam probe during foam
formation (fermentation at steady state) for a particular set
of process conditions is shown in Figure 4. For the data
presented in Figure 4, a constant dissolved oxygen level was
maintained via the agitator response using a constant 10
litres min- 1 of a sparged gas with constant composition
(50% oxygen enriched air: 50% atmospheric air). For clarity
only conductance data from segments 1, 3 and 5 have been
shown. In addition, corresponding foam height and loca-
tions of the foam probe segments have been overlaid onto
Figure 4.
The conductance value represents a circular ‘slice’ (see
Figure 2) through the foam at any time. As the foam rises in
the headspace and comes into contact with a probe segment,
a signiŽ cant increase in conductance is observed. The extent
of the increase is dependent on the liquid content of the
foam at that particular instant. The foam generally continues
to rise in the vessel over a period of 3 hours until eventually
the threshold conductance corresponding to segment 5 is
exceeded, a single dose of antifoam is added to the head-
space and the foam collapses within a few seconds. As
shown in Figure 5, the addition of antifoam (0.2 mls) caused
a sharp reduction in the dissolved oxygen concentration in
the bulk liquid and in response to this effect a concomitant
increased agitator speed was observed. It would appear,
therefore, that the effect of antifoam is to substantially
reduce mass transfer from the gas to the bulk liquid. The
reduction in mass transfer efŽ ciency could be related to
greater bubble coalescence in the bulk liquid and=or adsorp-
tion of antifoam to the interfaces of bubbles and cells. The
effect of the antifoam is relatively short-lived (~20 minutes)
as the dissolved oxygen concentration and the agitator speed
(not shown in Figure 5) return to their previous values
before antifoam was added. One possible explanation for
this may be that the antifoam is being metabolized by the
cells or possibly adsorbed onto the vessel walls.
Prior to the dosing of antifoam shown in Figure 4, the
conductance from segments 1 and 3 appear to be constant
(although not shown in Figure 4, the conductances from
segments 2 and 4 also show a plateau with respect to process
time). These regions where conductance is constant are
118 BROWN et al.

Figure 4. Conductivity proŽ les for segments 1 (——), 3 (.......) and 5 ( ) of the foam probe in response to foam formation and collapse by antifoam
addition for the following process conditions: dissolved oxygen control via agitator (mean agitator speed = 477 rpm; sdev = 42 rpm) at constant 10
litres min 7 1 of 50% oxygen enriched air: 50% atmospheric air. Corresponding foam height data ( ) and positions of foam probe segments are shown.

suitable for estimating the liquid content of the foam using
equations (2) and (3). The mean off-line conductivity for the
bulk liquid was measured as 15.2 mS cm- 1 (std dev = 0.81)
and did not signiŽ cantly vary for the duration of the process.
The calculated conductivities from equation (3) for foam
sensor segments 1, 3 and 5 were 1.2, 0.5 and
0.1 mSiemen cm- 1, respectively. Since each foam probe
segment measures a deŽ ned volume of headspace (see
Figure 2), it can be assumed that, based on the constant
conductance signal, the liquid content corresponding to
these segments is also constant. Using equation (2) (taking
the value of k = 0:33), the estimated liquid contents are
2.5% v=v, 1.1% v=v and 0.23% v=v for segments 1, 3 and 5
respectively. The relatively low liquid content estimation for
segment 5, possibly causes the especially signiŽ cant oscilla-
tion observed for the conductance signal from this particular
segment. Since the foam is quite unstable at this region
(segment 5), continual foam formation and collapse occurs
leading to the observed oscillation. This effect has been
substantiated from visual observation of the foam. Informa-
tion relating to the liquid content at various regions within
the foam may be another useful parameter for ‘training’ the
neural network, as the ability to predict the characteristics of
the foam (i.e. liquid content) will enable antifoam additions
to be optimized for any given foam condition.
Effect of Process Variables on the Foaming Behaviour
During the fermentation the process conditions were
altered to investigate effects on the resultant foam behaviour.
The process was always operated at a constant dissolved
oxygen level. The effect of reducing the total gas  ow rate of
the sparged gas (without changing the gas composition) to
5.0 litres min- 1 on the foaming behaviour inside the vessel is
shown in Figure 6. This change causes the agitator speed to
increase slightly to a mean value of 486 rpm (std dev = 54).
Thus, two changes are imposed on the process in order to
maintain constant dissolved oxygen concentration in the

Figure 5. The effect of antifoam on the conductivity of segments 1 (—— ), 3 (.......) and 5 ( ) and the dissolved oxygen in the bulk liquid. The time when
the antifoam pump was active is indicated ( ´ ). Foam collapsed with 5 seconds of antifoam being dosed.

Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001

 IMPROVED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FOAMS WITHIN BIOREACTORS
Figure 6. Conductivity proŽ les for segments 1 (———), 3 (.......) and 5 ( ) of the foam probe in response to foam formation and collapse by antifoam
addition for the following process conditions: dissolved oxygen control via agitator (mean agitator speed = 486 rpm; sdev = 54 rpm) at constant 5.0
bulk liquid. An obvious effect of these changes is the
reduction in the frequency of the foaming events (a foaming
event is deŽ ned as the time between initial formation and
collapse by the foam control system) shown in Figure 6. The
frequency of foaming in Figure 4 was 0.3 h- 1 compared to
0.2 h- 1 in Figure 6. Furthermore, the conductances prior to
173.8 hours for all segments are considerably lower, indicat-
ing that the foam itself is dryer with perhaps a tendency to
collapse at a faster rate than the foam produced in Figure 4,
causing the aforementioned reduction in foaming frequency.
The estimated liquid content for segment 1 is 2.06% v=v (no
liquid content estimations for segments 3 or 5, since foam is
not in contact with these segments), which is about 20%
lower than the corresponding value obtained at the higher gas
 ow rate. This result is expected since a lower gas  ow rate
reduces the amount of liquid taken into the foam from the
bulk liquid14.
At 173.8 hours, the foam suddenly increases to a level
above segment 5 (the foam control response is dependent on
liquid content not foam height). The possible reason for this
sudden change in the foaming behaviour could be mani-
fested in the effect of foaming on the process. After long
periods of foaming, such as that shown in Figure 6, pH
control becomes less efŽ cient as the added acid=base has to
travel through the foam to reach the bulk liquid causing
some + =- 10% variation of pH around the set-point. In
addition, the removal of cells, substrates and product into
the foam changes the chemical composition of the bulk
liquid, which may promote greater foaming. This observa-
tion has been reproduced, especially under conditions yield-
ing a lower foaming frequency (i.e. lower gas- ow rates),
when the above effects may become signiŽ cant. Further
reductions in the gas  ow rate to 3.3 litres min- 1 (at
constant gas composition) did not signiŽ cantly change the
liquid content of the foam at segments 1, 3 or 5 or the
frequency of foaming events.
These results indicate that it is possible to continuously
monitor a fermentation foam using the novel foam probe
which exploits conductimetric measurement. This probe will
provide useful information pertaining to the foam itself (i.e
Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001
119
dynamics of formation and collapse, liquid distribution at
local regions within foam and total liquid content within
foam (both can be a qualitative indicator of foam stability)
and foam height. From the aspect of integrating this
monitoring system with a new control system for controlling
the foam these parameters will be of use as predictors
relating to the foam behaviour=properties. The development
of the control strategy will enable a rational decision on how
to implement a suitable antifoam control strategy, based on
the predicted parameters to be made.
Preliminary Neural Network Predictions
for Foam Height
The aim of this research is to improve on the current
control methods available for foam control inside bio-
reactors. To realize this goal, it would be useful to be
able to predict the likelihood of the process foaming to an
unacceptable level. This prediction should be available
to the process controller in sufŽ cient time to actuate the
appropriate response. The response could be either:
i) do not add antifoam (i.e. foam will collapse without
antifoam);
ii) add minimum antifoam volume to control foam to an
acceptable height in vessel;
iii) adjust the process conditions (without adding antifoam)
to control foam.
The prediction process required for such an application is
made considerably easier by the use of neural networks. In
this section, some of the preliminary neural network devel-
opment based on data similar to that presented in Figures 4
and 6, will be brie y described together with the results
obtained for the prediction of foam height in the headspace.
In addition, it is intended to develop these models to predict
the liquid content of the foam (from the steady conductance
signal data shown in Figures 4 and 6).
The initial neural network development used foam probe
data from similar regimes shown in Figures 4 and 6. At this
stage in the research, the following procedure was applied to
120
the foam probe data to generate a ‘target’ response, which
re ected the continuous nature of the foam height measure-
ment. Firstly, this approach consisted of locating the highest
segment with a value above 2500 mSiemens (this is close to
the threshold value of segment 5), and deŽ ning this segment
as the integer part of the ‘target’ response. Secondly, the
conductance from the segment directly above the highest
segment with a conductance > 2500 mSiemens was
expressed as a fraction of 2500 mSiemens and then this
fraction added to the ‘target’ integer. For example, if the
highest segment with a conductance value above 2500 mSie-
mens is 3, and the conductance value for segment 4 equals
1000 mSiemens, then the resulting ‘target’ response would,
therefore, be 3.4. The data used for the training procedure
corresponded to regions where the conductance increased
up to the threshold value for antifoam dosing (i.e. similar to
data presented in Figure 4). The training data consisted of
between 2200–2300 data rows (conductance data) for both
the 1 minute and 5 minute predictions. These data rows
corresponded to regions where the foam was rising in the
vessel. The training data was selected from various process
conditions, such as those shown in Figures 4 and 6, with the
aim of providing a model that could be applied to a wide
range of process variables. The learning algorithm used in
this modelling was a multi-layer perceptron back-propaga-
tion network with three layers comprised of: 3 input nodes,
2 hidden nodes and 1 output node. In the long term, the
possibilities for optimizing this network structure will be
ascertained. The network training procedure was terminated
when the root mean square error for the training data
reached between 3%–5%. This type of neural network
does not yield understanding of the physical processes
governing the system. However, neural networks that use
fuzzy logic enable ‘rules’ between the target parameter and
the process variables to be extracted in order to develop a
better understanding of the considered process. In the long-
term, it is envisaged that neuro-fuzzy networks will be
developed for this purpose.
The predicted ‘target’ response values for 1 minute and 5
minutes ahead of the actual ‘target’ response are shown in
Figures 7 and 8. It should be emphasized that the test data
Figure 7. Comparison of future (1 minute ahead of actual time) neural
network prediction for the arbitrary ‘target’ segment level (dark line) (see
text for details) and the actual arbitrary ‘target’ segment level (white line) at
the same time point as the future prediction.
BROWN et al.
Figure 8. Comparison of future (5 minutes ahead of actual time) neural
network prediction for the arbitrary ‘target’ segment level (dark line) (see
text for details) and the actual arbitrary ‘target’ segment level (white line) at
the same time point as the future prediction.
(i.e. data series labelled ‘actual’) shown in Figures 7 and 8
was not used for neural network training. Not surprisingly,
the 5 minute prediction is less accurate than the 1 minute
prediction. There is a tendency to slightly overestimate low
target values and underestimate higher target values.
However, it should be noted that the target range between
segments 4 and 5 is well modelled. This is of course the area
of greatest interest for triggering the antifoam response.
There is also a tendency to overestimate values in the 4 to 5
region, which is perhaps more beneŽ cial than underestima-
tion. Overestimation has the effect of alerting a potential
foaming risk more often than needed, whereas underestima-
tion could mean failing to alert when a genuine risk exists.
Ideally it would be beneŽ cial to provide a prediction, which
was valid beyond the current times used to test the model.
However, the accuracy of prediction tends to drop as the
look-ahead time increases. In future work, prediction over
longer time scales will be considered. However, predicting
at Ž ve minutes ahead of the actual time represents a
signiŽ cant improvement on current (non-predictive) meth-
ods for detecting foam in the headspace. Currently, work is
focussed on integrating experimental foam height data with
the foam probe data for predicting both foam height and the
distribution of liquid within the foam. These predictions will
be incorporated into a new foam control strategy, which it is
hoped will provide improved foam control whilst also
minimizing antifoam additions.
CONCLUSIONS
A new approach to the control of fermentation foam has
been described that incorporates an improved measurement
device based on the conductance of foam. This device
provides a continuous on-line measurement of the conduc-
tance related to the foam within the headspace. Preliminary
results are shown for this new foam probe for foams
generated under two different operating conditions. These
results clearly show the potential of the device to yield
information on the foam height, rates of foam formation and
collapse and the liquid distribution within the foam. Further-
more, foam probe data has been used to develop a pre-
Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part C, June 2001
 IMPROVED METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FOAMS WITHIN BIOREACTORS
liminary neural network model for predicting an arbitrary
response related to foam height. The neural network predic-
tions for 1 minute and 5 minutes ahead of actual process
time are presented. It is the aim to develop more complex
and robust neural networks using actual foam height data in
the future.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding of the BBSRC and the
Department of Trade and Industry.
ADDRESS
Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to
Dr J. Varley, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Techno-
logy, Imperial College, Prince Consort Rd, South Kensington, London,
SW7 2BY, UK. E-mail: j.varley@lc.ac.uk
The manuscript was received 10 October 2000 and accepted for
publication 31 May 2001.