Continuous Culture: General Mass Balance

This lecture covers the concept of continuous culture using chemostats and plug flow reactors, where cellular growth is limited by essential nutrients. It explains the general mass balance equations for substrate and biomass, as well as the dimensional analysis involved. The ideal chemostat operation, steady-state variables with Monod kinetics, and the comparison between batch and continuous culture are discussed. The lecture also delves into the optimal dilution rate for biomass production and the challenges of stable chemostat operation. Overall, it provides a comprehensive understanding of continuous culture systems and their applications.