Mixed-acid fermentation is the core step of the MixAlco process, which converts biomass in hydrocarbon fuels. In this work, Smith is the first to sucessfully operate a large-scale (~3000 gallon) pilot fermentation at steady-state. From this experiences, he details challenges of operation and the tools and techniques he developed that eventually lead to sucessful operation. Based on the pilot fermentation work, Smith designed two experiments to investigate the behavior and optimal concentration of nitrogen in mixed-acid fermentation. A theme throughout this work is the challange of...