Modelling of a Pilot Wastewater Treatment Plant Operated With Variable Inflows

M. Levstek, I. Plazl and T. Koloini

Abstract
The nitrification-denitrification process was studied on suspended activated sludge in a CSTR pilot plant of 15 l. The system was operated in the single sludge mode and was fed with artificial wastewater. The experiments were carried out under steady and non-steady-state operational conditions in order to assess the reliability of mathematical simulations based on a modified ASM1 model that was successfully calibrated at the starting steady-state conditions. The dynamic model predictions and the measured responses of the real process yielded the initial values when the initial steady-state operational conditions were restored after stepped changes in the input flow. Although, relatively good correlations were obtained between the experimental data and the model predictions, in some cases large differences were observed under non-steady-state operational conditions. This reflects the discrepancy between the complex nature of the real activated sludge processes and the model’s macroscopic descriptions of these processes.

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Keywords
ASM1, calibration, validation, artificial wastewater, nutrient removal