Testing and modeling the nitrogen removal process in a full-scale WWTP treating municipal and industrial wastewater

IWA-ASMs models have been widely used for simulating the behaviour of wastewater treatment plants based on activated sludge processes. When industrial effluents contribute to a large fraction of the influent load, default values of biological kinetics cannot be adopted, as many factors may alter the biological reactions, namely: biodegradability and the presence of inhibitory and toxic compounds. In this paper, a method for calibration is proposed, based on laboratory tests to assess the most relevant stoichiometric and kinetic biomass parameters. Validation has been carried out on effluent concentrations of the real WWTP, which showed a good correspondence with simulated data.