A cost-effective IoT strategy for remote deployment of soft sensors – a case study on implementing a soft sensor in a multistage MBBR plant

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Model-based soft sensors can enhance online monitoring in wastewater treatment processes. These soft sensor scripts are executed either locally on a programmable logic controller (PLC) or remotely on a system with data-access over the internet. This work presents a cost-effective, flexible, open source IoT solution for remote deployment of a soft sensing algorithm. The system uses low-priced hardware and open-source programming language to set up the communication and remote-access system. Advantages of the new IoT architecture are demonstrated through a case study for remote deployment of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to estimate additional water quality parameters in a multistage moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) plant. The soft-sensor results are successfully validated against standardised laboratory measurements to prove their ability to provide real-time estimations.</jats:p>

Estimating Phosphorus and COD Concentrations Using a Hybrid Soft Sensor: A Case Study in a Norwegian Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant

“…A multitude of options for the deployment of soft sensor scripts and control algorithms are available in the market today. The deployment methods vary from direct implementation of scripts in a PLC/microcontroller/PC (edge computing) [29], or remote nonintrusive implementation presented in [30] using either cloud services or own infrastructure. In this paper, a more secure and robust version of the non-intrusive soft sensor deployment strategy discussed in [30] was used as a basis to build the IIoT infrastructure of DOSMON.…”

“…The deployment methods vary from direct implementation of scripts in a PLC/microcontroller/PC (edge computing) [29], or remote nonintrusive implementation presented in [30] using either cloud services or own infrastructure. In this paper, a more secure and robust version of the non-intrusive soft sensor deployment strategy discussed in [30] was used as a basis to build the IIoT infrastructure of DOSMON. An overview of the IIoT architecture of DOSMON used to acquire telemetry data from field devices and deploy the soft sensor algorithms in real-time is presented in Figure 4.…”

Challenges in the Development of Soft Sensors for Bioprocesses: A Critical Review

“…Technically, it is possible to implement soft sensors directly in the control level. However, the implementation of scripts directly in the control system is intended for end users only in exceptional cases and the proprietary language must be used ( Nair et al, 2020 ). Systems above the control level, on the other hand, commonly offer the possibility to implement soft sensors directly or indirectly.…”