BIOCONTROL
Development of an innovative predictive control methodology
for wastewater treatment facilities
to optimize operation and
minimization of energy consumption
For the control of the daily operation of the WWTFs, mainly conventional methodologies are applied, which, in order to achieve the goal of compliance with the quality regulations, operate at levels that are far from optimal.
There is therefore significant scope for reducing the cost of WWTFs which can be achieved mainly from the savings in the use of energy, which has the consequent benefit of the corresponding reduction in CO2 emissions.
The aim of the project is to develop a new methodology for controlling wastewater treatment plants based on the technique of predictive control, i.e. the development and application of a mathematical dynamic model of the process as well as the disturbances (of the quantity and quality of municipal wastewater) to predict the future behavior of the systemic. An optimization problem is then formulated, in which the objective function to be minimized includes the operating cost of the facility, where the energy cost of aeration of the aerobic secondary treatment tanks plays an important role.
Apart from the obvious benefits in the operation of existing EELs (reduction of energy costs and emission of air pollutants) and the creation of jobs, we consider that the project creates a very important business opportunity by integrating the method in new WWTFs installations.
For more informations please visit the web-page BIOCONTROL.