Process understanding of a wastewater batch reactor with block-wise PLS

In this work a systematic methodology 'block-wise PLS' has been applied to thoroughly analyse data from a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated for biological phosphorus removal from wastewater. The aim of this study was to diagnose process variables (collected by the inexpensive and low-maintenance sensors installed in the SBR) likely related to the main key indicator of process performance: the phosphorus removal efficiency (PRE), determined off-line in the quality control laboratory. In this way, it is intended to aid the process operators in the detection of abnormal values of these critical variables which would indicate undesirable process performance, so that, they could act on the process to avoid the negative consequences of the disturbance as soon as possible. The results of this research clearly show that the applied methodology can be considered as an effective tool to diagnose the process and can contribute to achieve a better process understanding as well as to optimise the process. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.