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Modeling and control for anaerobic wastewater treatment

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Bioprocess Design and Control

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 48))

Abstract

The recent literature on the modeling and control of anaerobic wastewater treatment processes is reviewed. An example from the author's personal work is used to describe how a dynamic simulation model can be developed from the basis of multi-organism growth kinetics and mass balancing techniques. This included consideration of the organic acid dissociation equilibria important for pH calculation and the thermodynamic influence of hydrogen on the reactions involving propionic and butyric acids. Liquid phase balances were linked to gas phase balances by gas-liquid transfer considerations. It is shown in detail how the model was applied to one and two stage experimental reactors for the design and tuning of controllers. Both conventional PID controllers and adaptive optimizing controllers, employing simple input-output models with an objective function, were tested.

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Abbreviations

A [m2]:

Reactor cross sectional area

ai, bi, c [−]:

Model parameter

C [mol m−3]:

Concentration of inorganic compound

C [C-mol m−3]:

Concentration of organic compound

EF [−]:

Equilibrium factor

F [m3 h−1]:

Liquid flow rate

G [mol h−1]:

Gas flow rate

ΔG0′ [kJ mol−1]:

Free Gibb's enthalpy

ΔG 0f [kJ mol−1]:

Standard free enthalpy of formation

Hi [mol m−3 bar−1]:

Henry-coefficient

KS [C-mol m−3]:

Saturation constant

KI [C-mol m−3]:

Inhibition constant

KA [mol m−3]:

Acid dissociation constant

KB [mol m−3]:

Base dissociation constant

KW [mol2 m−6]:

Water dissociation constant

Kr [*]:

Controller gain

kd [h−1]:

Death rate of organisms

kLa [h−1]:

Gas liquid phase mass transfer coefficient

N [mol m−3 h−1]:

Mass transfer rate

ni [mol]:

Amount of gas i in reactor gas phase

p [bar]:

Total pressure

PI [−]:

Performance index

R [bar m3/mol K]:

Universal gas constant

r [mol m−3 h−1]:

Reaction rate

rp [C-mol m−3 h−1]:

Product formation rate

rS [C-mol m−3 h−1]:

Substrate consumption rate

rX [C-mol m−3 h−1]:

Growth rate

T [K]:

Temperature

uB [m h−1]:

Bubble rising velocity

u [*]:

Manipulated process input

V [m3]:

Volume

X [C-mol m−3]:

Biomass concentration

Xi [−]:

Molar fraction of gas i in bubbles

YX/S [C-mol C-mol−1]:

Biomass yield from substrate S

YP/S [C-mol C-mol−1]:

Product yield from substrate S

y [*]:

Process output

α [*]:

Gain adaptive optimizer

β [*]:

Working point optimizer

δ [mol m−3]:

Different quantity in Eq. (14)

εg [−]:

Fractional gas hold up

λmin [*]:

Minimum forgetting factor optimizer

μ [h−1]:

Specific growth rate

μmax [h−1]:

Maximal specific growth rate

νi [−]:

Stoichiometric coefficient

Σ [*]:

Sensitivity optimizer

τsl [h]:

Solid retention time

[*]:

Units varying depending on application

AH:

acid

A− :

dissociated AH

Ac:

acetic acid

An− :

anion

B:

base

Bu:

butyric acid

D:

differential

g:

gas phase

HAc:

undissociated acetic acid

HBu:

undissociated butyric acid

HPr:

undissociated propionic acid

i:

refers to component

I:

integral

K+ :

cation

L:

liquid phase

P:

product

Pr:

propionic acid

S:

substrate

sl:

solid

titr:

titrator base

tot:

total

W:

water

X:

biomass

Z:

surplus cations

0:

reactor feed stream

COD:

Chemical oxygen demand

GC:

Gas chromatograph(y)

P:

Proportional

PI:

Proportional-integral

PID:

Proportional-integral-differential

VFA:

Volatile fatty acids

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Gerhard B. Ryhiner

    Present address: Sulzer Chemtech, 8401, Winterthur, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Reaction Engineering Group, Chemical Engineering Department, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland

    Elmar Heinzle, Irving J. Dunn & Gerhard B. Ryhiner

Authors
  1. Elmar Heinzle
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  2. Irving J. Dunn
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  3. Gerhard B. Ryhiner
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Additional information

Dedicated to Professor Dr. Karl Schügerl on the occasion of his 65th birthday

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag

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Heinzle, E., Dunn, I.J., Ryhiner, G.B. (1993). Modeling and control for anaerobic wastewater treatment. In: Bioprocess Design and Control. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 48. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0007197

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0007197

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-56315-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-47517-0

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