Steady state operation of well-mixed bioreactors (CSTRs) with
Monod kinetics is characterized by consistent and predictable
operation at all dilution rates less than the washout dilution rate.
Such systems also exhibit operational stability, reflected in the
term ‘‘chemostat’’; this term arises from the fact that the effluent
substrate concentration is independent of feed concentration
and, when experiencing perturbations in feed concentration, the
cell population responds by increasing/decreasing its size to return
the system to the original steady state (static) substrate value.