A rule based control strategy for automatically adjusting phase lengths and aeration intensity for an activated sludge nutrient removal process based on a periodic operation is examined using simulations based on the Activated Sludge Model No. 1. The strategy is based on four criterion functions, two which determine the switching of the roles of two nitrifying/denitrifying reactors and two which adjust the dissolved oxygen setpoint levels in the two reactors as functions of ammonia and nitrate concentrations. Trajectory plots of reactor concentrations in the ammonia-nitrate plane are shown to be a useful means of visualizing process and control performance. Together, the trajectories from a working region in the ammonia-nitrate plane, the size and location of which can to some extent be predetermined by selection of the criterion functions. The presented results include the influence of one of the criterion functions on control strategy performance, how an incompatibility between two criterion functions can lead to unsymmetric reactor loading, and the effect of allowing simultaneous nitrification and denitrification during nitrifying periods by reducing the dissolved oxygen level as ammonia is consumed.
Oscillatory instability of radiative shocks with multiple cooling processes
