OPTIMAL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN FOR STRUCTURE CHARACTERIZATION OF BIODEGRADATION MODELS: ON-LINE IMPLEMENTATION IN A RESPIROGRAPHIC BIOSENSOR

Abstract

The interaction between activated sludge and a wastewater is subject to important cbanges. This is reflected not only in changing biokinetic parameters but also in changing model structures. The need to select the ‘ right’ model structure in a reliable way on the basis of respirographic data provided by on-line sensors imposes serious real-time constraints on the methods used. First of all, fast structure characterization methods are presented allowing us to track the model structure on-line. Since these so-called a priori methods are less computing intensive, they can be at the basis of optimal experimental design calculations that can be performed on-line. This allows us to maintain the quality of the overall model identification under the changing process conditions of a wastewater treatment plant. Two applications of Optimal Experimental Design are given.