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Control of an ideal activated sludge process in wastewater treatment via an ODE–PDE model

Diehl, Stefan LU and Farås, Sebastian LU (2013) In Journal of Process Control 23(3). p.359-381
Abstract
The activated sludge process (ASP), found in most wastewater treatment plants, consists basically of a biological reactor followed by a sedimentation tank, which has one inlet and two outlets. The purpose of the ASP is to reduce organic material and dissolved nutrients (substrate) in the incoming wastewater by means of activated sludge (microorganisms). The major part of the discharged flow through the bottom outlet of the sedimentation tank is recirculated to the reactor, so that the biomass is reused. Only two material components are considered; the soluble substrate and the particulate sludge. The biological reactions are modelled by two nonlinear ordinary differential equations and the continuous sedimentation process by two hyperbolic... (More)
The activated sludge process (ASP), found in most wastewater treatment plants, consists basically of a biological reactor followed by a sedimentation tank, which has one inlet and two outlets. The purpose of the ASP is to reduce organic material and dissolved nutrients (substrate) in the incoming wastewater by means of activated sludge (microorganisms). The major part of the discharged flow through the bottom outlet of the sedimentation tank is recirculated to the reactor, so that the biomass is reused. Only two material components are considered; the soluble substrate and the particulate sludge. The biological reactions are modelled by two nonlinear ordinary differential equations and the continuous sedimentation process by two hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs), which have coefficients that are discontinuous functions in space due to the inlet and outlets. In contrast to previously published modelling-control aspects of the ASP, the theory for such PDEs is utilized. It is proved that the most desired steady-state solutions can be parameterized by a natural control variable; the ratio of the recirculating volumetric flow to the input flow. This knowledge is a key ingredient in a two-variable regulator, with which the effluent dissolved nutrients concentration and the concentration profile in the sedimentation tank are controlled. Theoretical results are supported by simulations. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Partial differential equation, Regulator, Controller, Clarifier-thickener, Settler, Continuous sedimentation
in
Journal of Process Control
volume
23
issue
3
pages
359 - 381
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000316585100011
  • scopus:84874623087
ISSN
1873-2771
DOI
10.1016/j.jprocont.2012.12.011
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e5c3579c-201e-492a-981c-a1cba9728698 (old id 3460569)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:00:08
date last changed
2022-04-28 03:36:28
@article{e5c3579c-201e-492a-981c-a1cba9728698,
  abstract     = {{The activated sludge process (ASP), found in most wastewater treatment plants, consists basically of a biological reactor followed by a sedimentation tank, which has one inlet and two outlets. The purpose of the ASP is to reduce organic material and dissolved nutrients (substrate) in the incoming wastewater by means of activated sludge (microorganisms). The major part of the discharged flow through the bottom outlet of the sedimentation tank is recirculated to the reactor, so that the biomass is reused. Only two material components are considered; the soluble substrate and the particulate sludge. The biological reactions are modelled by two nonlinear ordinary differential equations and the continuous sedimentation process by two hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs), which have coefficients that are discontinuous functions in space due to the inlet and outlets. In contrast to previously published modelling-control aspects of the ASP, the theory for such PDEs is utilized. It is proved that the most desired steady-state solutions can be parameterized by a natural control variable; the ratio of the recirculating volumetric flow to the input flow. This knowledge is a key ingredient in a two-variable regulator, with which the effluent dissolved nutrients concentration and the concentration profile in the sedimentation tank are controlled. Theoretical results are supported by simulations.}},
  author       = {{Diehl, Stefan and Farås, Sebastian}},
  issn         = {{1873-2771}},
  keywords     = {{Partial differential equation; Regulator; Controller; Clarifier-thickener; Settler; Continuous sedimentation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{359--381}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Process Control}},
  title        = {{Control of an ideal activated sludge process in wastewater treatment via an ODE–PDE model}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jprocont.2012.12.011}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jprocont.2012.12.011}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}