Control-oriented modeling and real-time control for the ozone dosing process of drinking water treatment

Ozonation is one of the most important steps during drinking water treatment. To improve the efficiency of ozonation and to stabilize the quality of the treated water, control-oriented modeling and a real-time control method for the ozone dosing process are developed in this study. Compared with existing ozonation models developed by bench-scale and pilot-scale batch experiments, the model reported herein is control-oriented and based on plant-scale batch experiments. A real-time control strategy for maintaining a constant ozone exposure is attempted to meet primary disinfection requirements. An internal model control scheme is proposed to maintain a constant ozone exposure by adjusting the ozone dosage. The proposed real-time control method can cope with changing water quality, water flow rate, and process operational conditions. Both simulations and experimental studies have been carried out and implemented for the ozone dosing process control system, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of this real-time control method.