Pollution Research Paper

SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF ACTIVATED SLUDGE PROCESS

B. VIVEKANANDAN AND A. SESHAGIRI RAO

Abstract

This paper presents a sensitivity analysis of effluent variables in the activated sludge process. Sensitivity analysis is used to study the effluent variables such as Ammonium plus ammonia nitrogen (SNH,e), Total Nitrogen (Ntot,e), Chemical Oxygen Demand (CODe), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5,e) and Total Suspended Solids (TSSe) are sensitive towards the manipulated variables for various influent conditions (low, average and high influent conditions). No case studies have been discussed in the literature for the BSM1 activated sludge process using the municipal WWTP (wastewater treatment plant) located in India. In this study, simulations are performed using the influent variables data taken from the municipal WWTP, located in India. The outcomes of the sensitivity analysis indicate that the optimal values of the manipulated variables such as oxygen transfer coefficient (KLa), internal recycle flow rate (Qa), external recycle flow rate (Qr) and excess sludge flow rate (Qw) are determined under various influent conditions and also used to keep the effluent concentration within the discharge limits and also used for the selection of control strategies in the activated sludge process.