Parameter Estimation in Biokinetic Degradation Models in Wastewater Treatment - A Novel Approach Relevant for Micro-pollutant Removal

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new parameter estimation methodology for biokinetic models of micropollutant degradation in wastewater treatment, focusing on cases with limited data and demonstrating the method's stability through simulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel approach for parameter estimation in biokinetic models, addressing structural and practical identifiability with experimental and numerical methods.

Findings

Proves structural identifiability of the model.

Develops experimental and numerical methods for parameter estimation.

Simulations show the algorithm's stability and accuracy.

Abstract

In this paper we address a general parameter estimation methodology for an extended biokinetic degradation model [1] for poorly degradable micropollutants. In particular we concentrate on parameter estimation of the micropollutant degradation sub-model by specialised microorganisms. In this case we focus on the case when only substrate degradation data are available and prove the structural identifiability of the model. Further we consider the problem of practical identifiability and propose experimental and related numerical methods for unambiguous parameter estimation based on multiple substrate degradation curves with different initial concentrations. Finally by means of simulated pseudo-experiments we have found convincing indications that the proposed algorithm is stable and yields appropriate parameter estimates even in unfavourable regimes.