A moving-boundary model of reactive settling in wastewater treatment. Part 1: Governing equations

TL;DR

This paper develops a mathematical model for reactive settling in wastewater treatment, capturing the dynamics of biomass and substrate reactions within sequencing batch reactors using a moving-boundary approach.

Contribution

It introduces a novel moving-boundary model coupled with nonlinear PDEs to simulate reactive settling in SBRs, including a finite difference scheme for numerical simulation.

Findings

Model accurately simulates SBR cycles and denitrification.

Finite difference scheme preserves invariant regions.

Provides insights into biomass and substrate interactions.

Abstract

Reactive settling is the process of sedimentation of small solid particles in a fluid with simultaneous reactions between the components of the solid and liquid phases. This process is important in sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) in wastewater treatment plants. In that application the particles are biomass (bacteria; activated sludge) and the liquid contains substrates (nitrogen, phosphorus) to be removed through reactions with the biomass. The operation of an SBR in cycles of consecutive fill, react, settle, draw, and idle stages is modelled by a system of spatially one-dimensional, nonlinear, strongly degenerate parabolic convection-diffusion-reaction equations. This system is coupled via conditions of mass conservation to transport equations on a half line, whose origin is located at a moving boundary and that model the effluent pipe. An invariant-region-preserving finite difference scheme is used to simulate operating cycles and the denitrification process within an SBR.