Design of a tracer test experience and dynamic calibration of the hydraulic model for a full-scale wastewater treatment plant by use of AQUASIM

Water Environ Res. 2007 Aug;79(8):893-900. doi: 10.2175/106143007x176068.

Abstract

The setup of the hydraulic model structure of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is an important step in the calibration of activated sludge models. The hydrodynamics of a full-scale municipal WWTP (Monterrey, Mexico) has been studied by means of the use of tracer tests and of a commercial simulator. A presimulation approach allowed the authors to quantify the appropriate rhodamine mass, set up a sampling plan, and evaluate the anticipated visual effect of the tracer test in the receiving river. The hydraulic behavior of the aeration tank for the first treatment line, a 7-cell plug-flow reactor, was shown to be best represented by 5 virtual mixed-tanks-in-series. The second treatment line, which included a vertical loop reactor (VLR), was best modeled as 3 tanks-in-series. The VLR, alone, was shown to be similar to a continuously stirred tank reactor, and not a circuit of tanks, as generally used to represent oxidation ditch reactors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bioreactors
  • Calibration
  • Cities
  • Computer Simulation*
  • Mexico
  • Sewage
  • Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods*
  • Water Purification / methods*

Substances

  • Sewage