Modelling and Control of Nitrogen and Phosphorus Removing Systems

Abstract

A wide variety of technologies addressing nutrient removal in wastewater treatment have been developed in the latest years. In order to be able to design, manage, operate, optimise and benchmark these novel technologies with potentially existing standard technologies, detailed modelling of nutrient removal becomes essential. Nutrient removal is prominently considered, with different degrees of complexity, in the commonly used Activated Sludge Models (ASM). However, the description of nutrient-related compounds in these standard models is not sufficiently detailed for novel and not so novel technologies. Furthermore, the environmental evaluation of a process, which includes an estimation of the greenhouse gas release, would require a more complex process to represent nitrogen removal. This chapter reviews the current state of nutrient removal modelling, with special focus on the needs created by emerging technologies in nitrogen and phosphorus removal, paying special attention to the objectives that must be evaluated for each technology.