Diagnosis and Identification of Respirometer Dynamics and Sludge Kinetics in Continuous-Flow Respirometers

摘要

This paper deals with excitation of respiration chamber dynamics in a continuous-flow respirometer with the objective of extracting additional information form its dissolved oxygen (DO) sensor reading. A measurement strategy is proposed form which it is theoretically possible to identify respiration chamber dilution rate, DO sensor dynamics, sludge kinetics, and short-term biochemical oxygen demand (BOD_st) concentration in the inflow to the respirometer. In extensive experiments with activated sludge fed with municipal wastewater, the method for identifying respiration chamber dilution rate and DO sensor dynamics proved successful and was illustrated to be useful. Finally, the results convincingly discourage further efforts to identify sludge kinetics and BOD_st form this type of experiment, despite the theoretical feasibility.