Development of a simulation app of kinetic tendencies

Abstract

The current need to improve the conditions for studying the production of biotechnological products highlights the need to create kinetic trends simulators in upstream processes. For this reason, in this project, the programming of a Shiny web app using R language is carried out, which allows numerical calculation and graphing of the design equations of the different types of reactors. R is an object-oriented statistical programming language, which allows the installation of pre-built libraries that facilitate script writing. These libraries have a wide potential for action and application, and in the development of this project, dSolve libraries were used to solve systems of differential equations, ggplot2 to plot the results, and the package Shiny, which allows generating the joint file interface and server, which together compute the web app. The type of biorreactor studied includes: batch, feed-batch and chemostate. The first one has no external output or flow rate input, so the reactor volume remains constant. Feed-Batch, as the name implies, refers to a batch reactor that only has an inlet but no output flow. Chemostate, on the other hand, has both outlet and inlet flow, which is why it is also called a continuous reactor (without biomass retention). Calculations are made taking into account the reaction rate equation and the mass balances of each reactor (OUTPUT + ACCUMULATION = INPUT + GENERATION). In addition, other factors such as the association of product formation with metabolism, calculations of the specific reaction speed or enzyme inactivation must be taken into account when defining the model. In this way, the batch and feedbatch reactor types present model equations in which the results of product, biomass and substrate are calculated using systems of simple differential equations as a function of time, while the chemostate establishes the result of these variables as a function of the dilution rate from systems of non-linear equations. One of the main objectives in the development of the project has been to maintain the premise of simplicity and clarity of the interface, thus making accessible to the user a global vision of how the different parameters affect with the whole process