BSM2 Plant-Wide Model construction and comparative analysis with other methodologies for integrated modelling.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Water Treatment Technologies
• Computational Modeling

Background:

• Integrated modeling of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is crucial for process optimization and management.
• Existing approaches often require complex interface development and may compromise mass balance.
• A need exists for flexible and coherent modeling methodologies that ensure continuity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel methodology for integrated WWTP modeling.
• To construct and validate the Benchmark Simulation Model No. 2 (BSM2) using this new approach.
• To demonstrate the advantages of the proposed methodology over existing ones.

Main Methods:

• Development of a transformations-approach for integrated modeling, eliminating the need for specific interface transformers.
• Construction of the Benchmark Simulation Model No. 2 (BSM2) as a case study.
• Evaluation of the BSM2 model through simulations under various operational scenarios.

Main Results:

• The proposed methodology successfully constructs tailored WWTP models with guaranteed mass and charge continuity.
• The BSM2 model, built using this method, accurately reproduces water and sludge lines in WWTPs.
• Simulations confirm the flexibility and coherence of the new integrated modeling approach.

Conclusions:

• The new transformations-approach offers a significant advancement in integrated WWTP modeling.
• BSM2 serves as a validated tool for simulating WWTP performance with enhanced accuracy and flexibility.
• This methodology facilitates the development of customized and reliable models for diverse WWTP configurations.