Dynamics and control of the activated sludge wastewater process

The dynamics of the activated sludge process are governed under certain conditions by interactions between the reactor and settler through sludge recycle. Settler underloading can lead to extremely sluggish system response, indicating that effective sludge height regulation is an important control objective. This objective may be in conflict with the need to maintain small variations in reactor solids concentration. An effective compromise can be achieved by using ratio control on both sludge recycle and settler underflow. This control policy does not require sludge storage.