Abstract
The performance of activated sludge process (ASP) is evaluated by the effluent quality which is determined by five different variables of the treated wastewater such as ammonia, total nitrogen, COD, BOD5 and TSS. To keep these five variables within the limits as per environmental regulations, nitrate and nitrite concentration (S NO) in the second anoxic reactor and the dissolved oxygen concentration (S O) in the last aerobic reactor of the ASP should be maintained at prescribed levels. To do that, a closed-loop control configuration is required and proper set-points for these closed-loop control configurations are needed. In this paper, the optimal values of controller set-points are determined for nitrogen removal in the activated sludge process. Effluent quality limits have been considered to evaluate the optimal set-points for the Indian climatic conditions. Once the optimal set-points are determined, PI controllers are used to control S NO in the second anoxic reactor and S O in the last aerobic reactor of the ASP. Further, feed-forward control is incorporated to minimize the effect of disturbances, which enters along with the influent. No case studies of BSM1 model have been reported in the literature for the Indian wastewater. In this work, the dynamic simulation of an activated sludge process is performed using the data collected from the sewage treatment plant, located in India. The results of the simulation showed that feed-forward with PI control strategy, ASP can be efficiently controlled without any effluent violations, when compared to BSM1.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alex J, Benedetti L, Copp J, Gernaey KV, Jeppsson U, Nopens I, Pons MN, Rieger L, Rosen C, Steyer JP, Vanrolleghem P, Winkler S (2008) Benchmark simulation model no. 1 (BSM1). Technical report, Dept. of Industrial Electrical Engineering and Automation. Lund University, Sweden
Amand L, Carlsson B (2012) Optimal aeration control in a nitrifying activated sludge process. Water Res 46:2101–2110
Araujo ACB, Gallani S, Mulas M, Olsson G (2011) Systematic approach to the design of operation and control policies in activated sludge systems. Ind Eng Chem Res 50:8542–8557
Copp JB (2002) The COST simulation benchmark—description and simulator manual. Office for official publications of the European communities
Gernaey KV, Jeppsson U, Vanrolleghem PA, Copp JB (2014) Benchmarking of control strategies for wastewater treatment plants. Scientific and technical report series no. 23. IWA Publishing, London
Henze M, Gujer W, Mino T, van Loosdrecht M (2000) Activated sludge models ASM1, ASM2, ASM2d and ASM3. IWA Publishing, London
Ingildsen P, Olsson G, Yuan Z (2002) A hedging point strategy—balancing effluent quality, economy and robustness in the control of wastewater treatment plants. Water Sci Technol 45(4–5):317–324
Insel GH, Gorgun E, Artan N, Orhon D (2009) Model based optimization of nitrogen removal in a full scale activated sludge plant. Environ Eng Sci 26(3):471–480
Machado VC, Gabriel D, Lafuente J, Baeza JA (2009) Cost and effluent quality controllers design based on the relative gain array for a nutrient removal WWTP. Water Res 43:5129–5141
Marlin TE (2000) Process control: designing processes and control systems for dynamic performance. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi
Qin SJ, Badgwell TA (2003) A survey of industrial model predictive control technology. Control Eng Pract 11(7):733–764
Rieger L, Jones RM, Dold PL, Bott CB (2014) Ammonia-based feedforward and feedback aeration control in activated sludge processes. Water Environ Res 86(1):63–73
Samuelsson P, Halvarsson B, Carlsson B (2007) Cost-efficient operation of a denitrifying activated sludge process. Water Res 41:2325–2332
Stare A, Vrecko D, Hvala N, Strmcnik S (2007) Comparison of control strategies for nitrogen removal in an activated sludge process in terms of operating costs: a simulation study. Water Res 41:2004–2014
Takacs I, Patry GG, Nolasco D (1991) A dynamic model of the clarification thickening process. Water Res 25:1263–1271
Vrecko D, Hvala N, Kocijan J, Zec M (2001) System analysis for optimal control of a wastewater treatment benchmark. Water Sci Technol 43(7):199–206
Vrecko D, Hvala N, Kocijan J (2002) Wastewater treatment benchmark: what can be achieved with simple control. Water Sci Technol 45(4–5):127–134
Vrecko D, Hvala N, Carlsson B (2003) Feedforward-feedback control of an activated sludge process: a simulation study. Water Sci Technol 47(12):19–26
Yong M, Yongzhen P, Jeppsson U (2006) Dynamic evaluation of integrated control strategies for enhanced nitrogen removal in activated sludge processes. Control Eng Pract 14:1269–1278
Yuan Z, Keller J (2003) Integrated control of nitrate recirculation and external carbon addition in a predenitrification system. Water Sci Technol 48(11–12):345–354
Yuan Z, Oehmen A, Ingildsen P (2002) Control of nitrate recirculation flow in predenitrification systems. Water Sci Technol 45(4–5):29–36
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Editorial responsibility: Binbin Huang
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vivekanandan, B., Rao, A.S. & Saravananae, R. Enhanced control of activated sludge process using predetermined set-points. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 487–496 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1157-2
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1157-2