Abstract

In this paper, we propose an interval observer-based fault detection strategy for a hydrogen production bioreactor in occurrence of sensor faults. Based on the dark fermenter model in presence of disturbances, we design a robust interval observer to: (i) estimate the glucose and biomass concentrations from hydrogen flow rate measurements, (ii) attenuate the influence of a disturbance, and (iii) detect the occurrence of the sensor faults by adaptive thresholds. The features of the proposed observer are assessed by numerical simulations.