Hierarchical predictive control of Wastewater Treatment Plants

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of a new predictive control approach used to improve the energy efficiency and effluent quality of a conventional Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). A twolayer hierarchical control structure is proposed: process control as a lower layer and a higher layer of optimization. The Activated Sludge Process (ASP) optimization using the proposed approach provides an improved aeration system efficiency to reduce energy costs while maintaining the quality parameters of the effluent. The control strategy is evaluated by performing simulations and analyzing the results. The regulatory performances have been tested and the effects of several tuning parameters are investigated.

A Review of AI-Driven Control Strategies in the Activated Sludge Process with Emphasis on Aeration Control

“…PLCs are originally designed to meet the control requirement of a single piece or discrete component of a process, while DCSs are designed to provide local centralized data collection from multiple pieces of connected process components [32]. SCADA is widely used in WWTPs as it has the advantage of notifying an operator of possible malfunctions, remotely turning process components on or off, displaying and logging real-time data, and providing a plant-wide view [32,33].…”