The most used process for biological nitrogen removal from municipal and industrial wastewaters is the activated sludge process. Because of the importance of this process, as well as the large number of existing facilities, a lot of research effort has been focused on optimizing the operation strategies or improving the individual plant design. However, the systematic optimization of the process structure (process synthesis) and operation conditions based on rigorous process models has not been presented in the literature. The objective of this work is to address the simultaneous optimization of the process configuration and equipment dimensionsi.e., process synthesis and designand the operation conditions of activated sludge wastewater treatment plants for nitrogen removal based on a superstructure model. The model embeds up to five reactors and a secondary settler, and allows flow distribution of the main process streams, i.e., nitrate and sludge recycle streams and fresh feed, along the reaction zone. The objective function is to minimize the net present value formed by investment and operating costs, while verifying compliance with the effluent permitted limits. The investment cost computes the reaction tanks, aeration systems, secondary settler, influent pumping station, and sludge pump costs. The operation cost computes the cost for pumping, aeration, dosage of an external carbon source, excess sludge treatment for disposal, and fines according to pollution units discharged. Influent wastewater flowrate and composition are assumed to be known. The activated sludge model no. 3 and the Takács model are selected to describe the biochemical processes and the secondary settler, respectively. This results in a highly nonlinear system with nonsmooth functions. Because of the problem complexity, in this first approach, a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem (specifically a nonlinear programming with discontinuous derivatives (DNLP) problem) is proposed and solved to obtain some insights for future models. It was implemented and solved using general algebraic modeling system (GAMS). Results for case studies are presented and discussed.

In the present work, a previous superstructure model developed for simultaneous optimization of the process configuration and equipment dimensions, i.e., optimal process synthesis and design and the operation conditions of activated sludge wastewater treatment plants, is extended to account for phosphorus as well as nitrogen removal. Along the activated sludge treatment process, the wastewater stream is exposed to different environmental conditions (anaerobic, anoxic, and aerated zones) in order to facilitate the different microbiological processes such as the release and uptake of phosphorus and the nitrification/denitrification processes. The Activated Sludge Model No. 3 extended with the Bio-P module for computing biological phosphorus removal is used to model the reaction compartments and the Taka `cs model for representing the secondary settler. The performance criterion selected is the minimization of the net present value that includes investment and operating costs while verifying compliance with the effluent permitted limits. The problem is posed as a NLP problem, specifically a nonlinear programming problem with discontinuous derivatives DNLP. The optimization model is implemented and solved using a General Algebraic Modeling System, GAMS. Optimal configurations and designs obtained for several case studies are reported and discussed. The model itself and the resolution methodology prove to be robust and flexible enough to solve efficiently scenarios with a wide range of operation conditions, embedding conventional and nonconventional process configurations.

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