Wastewater neutralization control based in fuzzy logic: Simulation results

Neutralization is a technique widely used as a part of wastewater treatment processes. Due to the importance of this technique, extensive study has been devoted to its control. However, industrial wastewater neutralization control is a procedure with a lot of problems-nonlinearity of the titration curve, variable buffering, changes in loading-and despite the efforts devoted to this subject, the problem has not been totally solved. In this paper, the authors present the development of a controller based in fuzzy logic (FLC). In order to study its efectiveness, it has been compared, by simulation, with other advanced controllers (using identification techniques and adaptive control algorithms using reference models) when faced with various types of wastewater with different buffer capacity or when changes in the concentration of the acid present in the wastewater take place. Results obtained show that FLC could be considered as a powerful alternative for wastewater neutralization processes.