Estimation of neutral lipid and carbohydrate quotas in microalgae using adaptive interval observers.

Under stress conditions, microalgae are known to accumulate large amounts of neutral lipids and carbohydrates, which can be used for biofuel production. However, on-line measurement of microalgal biochemical composition is a difficult task which makes the microalgal process rather difficult to manage. In this paper, we propose a so called adaptive interval observer for the on-line estimation of neutral lipid and carbohydrate quotas in microalgae. The observer is based on a change of coordinates that involves a time-varying gain. We introduce dynamics for the gain, whose trajectory converges toward a predefined optimal value (which maximizes the convergence rate of the observer). The observer performance is illustrated with experimental data of Isochrysis sp. cultures under nitrogen limitations and day-night cycle. The proposed observer design appears to be a suitable robust estimation technique.