2025/06/12 by Otacilio B. L. Neto, Otacílio B.L. Neto, Neto, Otacilio B. L. +6 · 2 citations
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Controller (irrigation) #Membrane-based Ion Separation Techniques #Model predictive control #Resource (disambiguation) #Resource recovery #Sewage treatment #Wastewater #Wastewater Treatment and Nitrogen Removal #Wastewater Treatment and Reuse #Water quality #Water resources management and optimization #Water treatment #Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies #Work (physics)
paper · pdf · open access · doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2026.106888
published in Control Engineering Practice 172, 106888 (Elsevier BV)
openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex publication_date 2026/03/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
This work proposes an automatic control solution for the operation of conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as energy-autonomous water resource recovery facilities. We first conceptualize a classification of the quality of treated water for three resource recovery applications (environmental, industrial, and agricultural water reuse). We then present an output-feedback model predictive controller (Output MPC) that operates a plant to produce water of a specific quality class, while also producing sufficient biogas to ensure nonpositive energy costs. Using well-established simulation models, we analyze the controller performance on the long-term operation of a biological WWTP subjected to typical influent loads and periodically changing quality targets. Our experiments show that conventional WWTPs are flexible enough to transition from pollution abatement to resource recovery. The plant is also shown to have an energy-positive operating regime, that is, it can recover more energy than needed for its operation. Under closed-loop operation, the WWTP achieves the nutrient recovery targets while producing 83 GWh/year of surplus energy, with an average throughput of 2 385 kWh/day. The results provide a proof-of-concept for the energy-autonomous operation of existing wastewater treatment infrastructure with control strategies that are general enough to accommodate different resource recovery tasks.