Generic distributed parameter model control of a biological nutrient removal (BNR) activated sludge process

This paper addresses nonlinear control of a class of distributed parameter systems by the generic distributed parameter model- based control (GDPMC) strategy. Case studies on a complex biological nutrient removal (BNR) activated sludge process for nitrogen and phosphorus removal show that the GDPMC strategy is applicable for controlling species of interest in speci®c bior- eaction zones. The designs give much improved performances compared to well-tuned PI controllers in terms of the integral time absolute errors (ITAE). In a study on control of the entire BNR activated sludge plant, a multi-unit decentralised GDPMC strategy is shown to be robust to 25% plant-model mismatch in three sensitive and uncertain kinetic parameters. The advantages of the GDPMC strategy over lumped-model generic model control (GMC) are demonstrated in a comparative study on soluble phosphate control within the anaerobic zone of the plant.