scholarly journals Design of Feedback Control Strategies in a Plant-Wide Wastewater Treatment Plant for Simultaneous Evaluation of Economics, Energy Usage, and Removal of Nutrients

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6386
Author(s):  
Abdul Gaffar Sheik ◽  
Eagalapati Tejaswini ◽  
Murali Mohan Seepana ◽  
Seshagiri Rao Ambati ◽  
Montse Meneses ◽  
...  

Simultaneous removal of nitrogen and phosphorous is a recommended practice while treating wastewater. In the present study, control strategies based on proportional-integral (PI), model predictive control (MPC), and fuzzy logic are developed and implemented on a plant-wide wastewater treatment plant. Four combinations of control frameworks are developed in order to reduce the operational cost and improve the effluent quality. As a working platform, a Benchmark simulation model (BSM2-P) is used. A default control framework with PI controllers is used to control nitrate and dissolved oxygen (DO) by manipulating the internal recycle and oxygen mass transfer coefficient (KLa). Hierarchical control topology is proposed in which a lower-level control framework with PI controllers is implemented to DO in the sixth reactor by regulating the KLa of the fifth, sixth, and seventh reactors, and fuzzy and MPC are used at the supervisory level. This supervisory level considers the ammonia in the last aerobic reactor as a feedback signal to alter the DO set-points. PI-fuzzy showed improved effluent quality by 21.1%, total phosphorus removal rate by 33.3% with an increase of operational cost, and a slight increase in the production rates of greenhouse gases. In all the control design frameworks, a trade-off is observed between operational cost and effluent quality.

Author(s):  
Hongyang Xu ◽  
Ramon Vilanova

Due to the complex and non linear character, wastewater treatment process is difficult to be controlled. The demand for removing the pollutant, especially for nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), as well as reducing the cost of wastewater treatment plant is an important research theme recently. Thus, in this paper, the benchmark proposed default control strategy and 10 additional control strategies are applied on the combined biological P and N removal Benchmark Simulation Model No.1 (BSM1-P). In addition, according to the results of applying PI controllers, as usual, we also chose the group with the better performance, as well as the default control strategy, to replace the PI controllers with fuzzy controllers. In this way, it can be seen that in all cases the quality of effluent of the controlled process could be improved in some degree; and the fuzzy controllers get a better phosphorus removal.


Water SA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (4 October) ◽  
Author(s):  
Justine De Ketele ◽  
Dries Davister ◽  
David S Ikumi

Achievement of good effluent quality is always the main goal for wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) systems. However, these WWTPs have developed further objectives that include efficient design and strategic control options, with the prospect of their conversion into waste resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) that operate on reduced energy costs. With all these aspects becoming an intrinsic part of waste treatment, mathematical models that simulate WWTP unit processes are becoming of increasing relevance for the achievement of WRRF goals (including good effluent quality, low energy costs and nutrient recovery). It is expected that these mathematical models will benefit potential future applications of automation process control, which have also been developing rapidly with the availability of more reliable and affordable sensors. However, simulated automation control strategies require a thorough evaluation protocol to ensure their viability prior to being adopted as efficient operation control measures. This study considers the comparison of different control strategies implemented on a standard WWTP layout, for plant optimization. The initial task was to define performance indices, effluent quality index (EQI) and operation cost index (OCI), based on a previous investigation by the International Water Association (IWA) benchmark simulation modelling (BSM) task group. These performance indices were then used to evaluate the following strategies: (i) adding a fermentation tank, (ii) dosing flocculant and (iii) implementing a balancing tank. A control strategy was only assumed to be effective with improvement or maintenance of effluent quality. Overall, the evaluation exercise proved to be useful for providing expert advice on efficiency of proposed waste treatment system layouts, towards determination of the best configuration of future WRRFs. For instance, it was notable that significant organic strength is needed for removal of nutrients recycled back from the anaerobic digestion (AD) system into the activated sludge (AS) – hence alternate methods to put the nutrient-rich outflow from the AD system to good use are required.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 2278-2285
Author(s):  
M. H. Husin ◽  
M. F. Rahmat ◽  
N. A. Wahab

Two main challenges in activated sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) are cost and effluent quality, which has forced the wastewater treatment operator to find an alternative to improve the existing control strategy. The Benchmark Simulation Model No. 1 (BSM1) is applied as operational settings for this study. In BSM1, the standard control variables are the internal recirculation flow rate and the oxygen transfer rate. To improve the existing control strategy of BSM1, three alternative control handles are proposed, which are the individual aeration intensity control, carbon source addition and combination of both. The effect of each control handles in terms of the effluent violation, effluent quality, aeration cost, and total operational cost index are examined. The simulation result has shown that the individual control of aeration intensity improved the effluent quality index, and reduced the aeration, pumping, and total operational cost index when compared to the standard BSM1 control handle. Nonetheless, the addition of a fixed external carbon source has shown a significantly improved effluent quality with a lower number of total nitrogen violations as compared to the standard BSM1 control handles. Thus, the proposed control handles may be beneficial if applied in a real WWTP.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1339
Author(s):  
Javier Bayo ◽  
Sonia Olmos ◽  
Joaquín López-Castellanos

This study investigates the removal of microplastics from wastewater in an urban wastewater treatment plant located in Southeast Spain, including an oxidation ditch, rapid sand filtration, and ultraviolet disinfection. A total of 146.73 L of wastewater samples from influent and effluent were processed, following a density separation methodology, visual classification under a stereomicroscope, and FTIR analysis for polymer identification. Microplastics proved to be 72.41% of total microparticles collected, with a global removal rate of 64.26% after the tertiary treatment and within the average retention for European WWTPs. Three different shapes were identified: i.e., microfiber (79.65%), film (11.26%), and fragment (9.09%), without the identification of microbeads despite the proximity to a plastic compounding factory. Fibers were less efficiently removed (56.16%) than particulate microplastics (90.03%), suggesting that tertiary treatments clearly discriminate between forms, and reporting a daily emission of 1.6 × 107 microplastics to the environment. Year variability in microplastic burden was cushioned at the effluent, reporting a stable performance of the sewage plant. Eight different polymer families were identified, LDPE film being the most abundant form, with 10 different colors and sizes mainly between 1–2 mm. Future efforts should be dedicated to source control, plastic waste management, improvement of legislation, and specific microplastic-targeted treatment units, especially for microfiber removal.


Author(s):  
Maria Clara V. M. Starling ◽  
Elizângela P. Costa ◽  
Felipe A. Souza ◽  
Elayne C. Machado ◽  
Juliana Calábria de Araujo ◽  
...  

AbstractThis work investigated an innovative alternative to improve municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent (MWWTP effluent) quality aiming at the removal of contaminants of emerging concern (caffeine, carbendazim, and losartan potassium), and antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB), as well as disinfection (E. coli). Persulfate was used as an alternative oxidant in the solar photo-Fenton process (solar/Fe/S2O82−) due to its greater stability in the presence of matrix components. The efficiency of solar/Fe/S2O82− at neutral pH using intermittent iron additions is unprecedented in the literature. At first, solar/Fe/S2O82− was performed in a solar simulator (30 W m−2) leading to more than 60% removal of CECs, and the intermittent iron addition strategy was proved effective. Then, solar/Fe/S2O82− and solar/Fe/H2O2 were compared in semi-pilot scale in a raceway pond reactor (RPR) and a cost analysis was performed. Solar/Fe/S2O82− showed higher efficiencies of removal of target CECs (55%), E. coli (3 log units), and ARB (3 to 4 log units) within 1.9 kJ L−1 of accumulated irradiation compared to solar/Fe/H2O2 (CECs, 49%; E. coli, 2 log units; ARB, 1 to 3 log units in 2.5 kJ L−1). None of the treatments generated acute toxicity upon Allivibrio fischeri. Lower total cost was obtained using S2O82− (0.6 € m−3) compared to H2O2 (1.2 € m−3). Therefore, the iron intermittent addition aligned to the use of persulfate is suitable for MWWTP effluent quality improvement at neutral pH.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1517-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riqiang Li ◽  
Jianxing Wang ◽  
Hongjiao Li

Abstract As a step toward bioaugmentation of coking wastewater treatment 45 bacteria strains were isolated from the activated sludge of a coking wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Three strains identified as Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas synxantha, and Pseudomonas pseudoaligenes exhibited high dehydrogenase activity which indicates a strong ability to degrade organic matter. Subsequently all three strains showed high naphthalene degradation abilities. Naphthalene is a refractory compound often found in coking wastewater. For B. cereus and P. synxantha the maximum naphthalene removal rates were 60.4% and 79.8%, respectively, at an initial naphthalene concentration of 80 mg/L, temperature of 30 °C, pH of 7, a bacteria concentration of 15% (V/V), and shaking speed of 160 r/min. For P. pseudoaligenes, the maximum naphthalene removal rate was 77.4% under similar conditions but at 35 °C.


2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (11) ◽  
pp. 189-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bongards

One of the main problems in operating a wastewater treatment plant is the purification of the excess water from dewatering and pressing of sludge. Because of a high load of organic material and of nitrogen it has to be buffered and treated together with the inflowing wastewater. Different control strategies are discussed. A combination of neural network for predicting outflow values one hour in advance and fuzzy controller for dosing the sludge water are presented. This design allows the construction of a highly non-linear predictive controller adapted to the behaviour of the controlled system with a relatively simple and easy to optimise fuzzy controller. Measurement results of its operation on a municipal wastewater treatment plant of 60,000 inhabitant equivalents are presented and discussed. In several months of operation the system has proved very reliable and robust tool for improving the system's efficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
Ali Akbar Rahmani Sarmazdeh ◽  
Mostafa Leili

This research mainly aimed to investigate phosphorus removal from stabilization pond effluent by using anionic resins in the continuous flow mode of operation due to high amounts of phosphorus in the wastewater treatment plant effluent of Kaboodrahang, western Iran, as well as the violation from a prescribed effluent standard to discharge receiving the surface waters. For this purpose, the pilot was made of a plexiglass cylinder and other equipment such as pump and other accessories, as well as Purolite A-100 resin. The reactor effects on the desired study parameters were assessed in two warm and cold seasons. The results showed that the phosphorus concentrations reduced from 7-10 mg/L to 4-7 mg/L and the rate of phosphorus removal was higher in the hot season compared to the cold season. Moreover, the optimum temperature and pH were obtained 21ºC and 8.5, respectively. The mean inlet biological oxygen demand (BOD) was 150 mg/L for both warm and cold seasons, where the highest removal rate of 17% was obtained in the cold season. The mean chemical oxygen demand concentration of the pilot was 250 mg/L for both seasons, and the highest removal rate was observed in the cold season with an efficiency of 18%. Regarding the total suspended solids with the mean inlet of 230 mg/L, the highest removal efficiency was obtained 6% in the warm season.


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