DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN EXPERT SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE CONTROL OF NITRIFICATION AND DENITRIFICATION IN THE VIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT

Abstract Wastewater treatment plants employ various physical, chemical and biological processes to reduce pollutants from raw wastewater. One of the most important is the biological nitrogen removal process through nitrification and denitrification steps taking place in various sections of the biological reactor. One of the most extensively used configurations to achieve the biological nitrogen removal is an activated sludge system using oxidation ditch or extended aeration. To improve nitrogen removal in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) of Vic (Catalonia, NE Spain), the automatic aeration control system was complemented with an Expert System to always provide the most appropriate aeration or anoxia sequence based on the values of ammonium and nitrates given by an automatic analyzer. This article illustrates the development and implementation of this knowledge‐based system within the framework of a Decision Support System, which performs SCADA functions. The paper also shows that the application of the decision support system in the Vic WWTP resulted in significant improvements to the biological nitrogen removal.