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Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation: Simple Control Schemes with a Holistic Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • S. Revollar

    (Informatics and Automatics Department, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • R. Vilanova

    (Dept. Telecommunications and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • P. Vega

    (Informatics and Automatics Department, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • M. Francisco

    (Informatics and Automatics Department, University of Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • M. Meneses

    (Dept. Telecommunications and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering Universitat Autonoma Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

In this paper, a control approach for improving the overall efficiency of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) is presented. It consists of a cascaded control system that uses a global performance indicator as the controlled variable to drive the plant to operating conditions that satisfies trade-offs involved in the WWTP operation, improving the global performance of the plant. The selected global performance indicator is the N/E index that measures the ratio between the amount of nitrogenated compounds eliminated (kgN) and the energy (kWh) required to achieve that goal. This index links the variables of the activated sludge process with the energy consumed in the whole plant, thus the control strategy takes actions based on plantwide considerations. An external Proportional Integral (PI) controller changes the DO set point according to the N/E index and the basic dissolved oxygen (DO) control scheme in the activated sludge process follows this reference changes varying the aeration intensity. An outer loop with an event-based controller is used to compute the index values when the DO concentration is driven to excessively low limits, preventing long operation periods in this undesirable condition. Simple proportional integral controllers (PI) are used to adapt the strategy to the automation systems available in WWTPs. The implementation in the Benchmark Simulation Model 2 (BSM2) demonstrates the potential of the proposed approach. The results show the possibilities of the N/E index to be used as an indicator of global performance of WWTPs. It provides a link between water line objectives and energy consumption in the whole plant that can be exploited to introduce plantwide considerations in alternative control strategies formulated to drive the plant to operating conditions that optimize the overall process efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Revollar & R. Vilanova & P. Vega & M. Francisco & M. Meneses, 2020. "Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation: Simple Control Schemes with a Holistic Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-28, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:768-:d:311307
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Montse Meneses & Henry Concepción & Ramon Vilanova, 2016. "Joint Environmental and Economical Analysis of Wastewater Treatment Plants Control Strategies: A Benchmark Scenario Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Longo, Stefano & d’Antoni, Benedetto Mirko & Bongards, Michael & Chaparro, Antonio & Cronrath, Andreas & Fatone, Francesco & Lema, Juan M. & Mauricio-Iglesias, Miguel & Soares, Ana & Hospido, Almudena, 2016. "Monitoring and diagnosis of energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants. A state of the art and proposals for improvement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1251-1268.
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    2. Rosa M. Llácer-Iglesias & P. Amparo López-Jiménez & Modesto Pérez-Sánchez, 2021. "Energy Self-Sufficiency Aiming for Sustainable Wastewater Systems: Are All Options Being Explored?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Abdul Gaffar Sheik & Eagalapati Tejaswini & Murali Mohan Seepana & Seshagiri Rao Ambati & Montse Meneses & Ramon Vilanova, 2021. "Design of Feedback Control Strategies in a Plant-Wide Wastewater Treatment Plant for Simultaneous Evaluation of Economics, Energy Usage, and Removal of Nutrients," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, October.
    4. Irena Tušer & Alena Oulehlová, 2021. "Risk Assessment and Sustainability of Wastewater Treatment Plant Operation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Paulina Szulc & Jędrzej Kasprzak & Zbysław Dymaczewski & Przemysław Kurczewski, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment Processes Regarding Energy Production from the Sludge Line," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-29, January.
    6. Kate Anderson & James Grymes & Alexandra Newman & Adam Warren, 2023. "North Carolina Water Utility Builds Resilience with Distributed Energy Resources," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 247-265, July.
    7. Tamás Karches, 2022. "Fine-Tuning the Aeration Control for Energy-Efficient Operation in a Small Sewage Treatment Plant by Applying Biokinetic Modeling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-13, August.
    8. David Palma-Heredia & Manel Poch & Miquel À. Cugueró-Escofet, 2020. "Implementation of a Decision Support System for Sewage Sludge Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-18, October.
    9. Saad M. Alramthi & Gamila H. Ali & Atiah M. Elthagafi & Saad H. Eldosari & Bao-Ku Zhu & Hosam M. Safaa, 2022. "Oxidation Ditches for Recycling and Reusing Wastewater Are Critical for Long-Term Sustainability—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-14, December.

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