Towards a simulation-benchmark for evaluating respirometry-based control strategies

Many respirometry-based control strategies have been proposed in the literature but few successful practical implementations or even simulation-based evaluations have been reported. The state-of-the-art provides insufficient justification for the development of a how-to-do procedure for such control strategies in full scale. It is, therefore, expected that carefully conducted simulation studies will greatly support the evaluation of proposed strategies and, eventually, the implementation in practice. These studies should be based on a rigorous methodology including simulation model, plant layout, controller and test procedure. This paper describes the development of such a methodology, termed “benchmark”. The benchmark is evaluated on the basis of a respirometry-based control strategy from the literature. Some simulation results are shown and modifications to the strategy imperative to the implementation in the benchmark are discussed. It is concluded that the benchmark provides a convenient means to perform a number of tests with the implemented control strategy. The benchmark should be further developed and tested.