Abstract:
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The correct control and prediction of Wastewater Treatment Plants
poses an important goal: to avoid breaking the environmental balance
by always keeping the system in stable operating conditions. In this
respect, it is known that qualitative information ---coming from
microscopic examinations and subjective remarks--- has a deep
influence on the activated sludge process. In particular, it
influences the total amount of effluent suspended solids, one of the
measures of overall plant performance. The search for an input-output
model of this variable is thus a central concern in order to ensure
the fulfillment of current discharge limitations. Unfortunately, the
strong interrelation between variables, their heterogeneity, and the
very high amount of missing information make the use of traditional
techniques difficult, or even impossible. Despite these problems, and
through the combined use of several soft computing methods ---rough
set theory and artificial neural networks, mainly--- reasonable
prediction models are found. These models also serve to show the
different importance of variables and give insight to the process
dynamics. |