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U. Banos-Rodrguez
, O.J. Santos-Snchez b , R.I. Beltrn-Hernndez a , G.A. Vzquez-Rodrguez a,
a
Centro de Investigaciones Qumicas, Universidad Autnoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km. 4.5, 42184 Mineral de la Reforma, Hgo., Mexico
Centro de Investigacin en Tecnologas de Informacin y Sistemas, Universidad Autnoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km. 4.5, 42184 Mineral de la Reforma,
Hgo., Mexico
c
Universidad Politcnica de Pachuca, Ex-Hacienda de Santa Brbara, Carretera Pachuca-Cd. Sahagn km. 20, C.P. 43830, Zempoala, Hgo. Mexico
b
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 13 October 2011
Received in revised form 22 February 2012
Accepted 22 February 2012
Keywords:
Phenol
Inhibition kinetics
Modeling
Suboptimal control
Control Lyapunov function
Hill-climbing algorithm
a b s t r a c t
A strategy based on a kinetic model was developed to control a fedbatch process for phenol degradation by means of the feeding pattern. Biodegradation of phenol by acclimated activated sludge was
modeled by the Haldane equation. This model was considered as the control system and the feeding ow (Q) to the reactor as the input. The Control Lyapunov Function (CLF) approach was used to
synthesize the controller, which was applied in open loop. A feeding strategy and a fedbatch cycle,
consisting of 4 h of lling, 6 h of aeration, 0.58 h of settling and 0.03 h of drawing, were obtained
by simulation. The kinetic model and the control strategy were validated experimentally in a fedbatch cycle, and the performance of the latter was compared with that of a non-controlled cycle. The
model allowed to predict adequately both the phenol and the biomass concentrations during the culture. The control of the process resulted in a lower hydraulic retention time (21.28 h) than that of
the non-controlled cycle (47.62 h). Higher applied and phenol mass loads (1.13 g phenol L1 d1 and
4.82 g phenol g1 TSS d1 , respectively) could also be obtained in the controlled cycle. Further, the phenol mass load was higher than that reported in other processes even though any online monitoring
was carried out. This is the rst reported use of the CLF approach to biodegradation processes, and it is
our view that it could be applied to other phenolic wastewater treatment systems lacking of real-time
monitoring.
2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Phenol is a naturally and industrially derived pollutant commonly found in industrial and domestic wastewater [1]. This
compound can be removed biologically from liquid streams
because there are numerous and widespread microorganisms that
can break it down. Indeed, aerobic prokaryotic and eukaryotic
microorganisms [1], as well as mixed cultures (i.e., activated sludge
[2]), are capable to oxidize phenol.
Nevertheless, even the microorganisms able of using phenol
as a substrate can only deal with relatively low concentrations of
this compound (of about 0.10 g L1 [3]) due to its cell membrane
disrupting effect [1]. So, the Haldane inhibition model (Eq. (1)) is
frequently used to describe the relationship between the specic
microbial growth rate () and the phenol concentration (S) in batch,
fedbatch and continuous operating modes [2].
=
max S
KS + S +
S2
Ki
(1)
max , KS and Ki are constant parameters corresponding to the maximum specic growth rate, the half-saturation constant and the
Haldane-inhibition constant, respectively.
Fedbatch reactors provide dynamic conditions of operation specially well-suited for the biodegradation of inhibitory compounds
as phenol. In these reactors the inuent is fed to the treatment unit
following a specic pattern. Since the efuent is not drawn off until
the reactor is full or later, toxic compounds are diluted in the total
volume of the aeration tank, allowing their inhibitory effect to be
reduced [4]. For control purposes, the control signal (e.g., the feeding ow of toxic inuent to the reactor) has to be minimized to
diminish the inhibition of the biomass but without compromising
the performance of the process (i.e., the daily pollution load to the
system).
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
Nomenclature
Ki
KS
Q
S
T
V
X
Y
V (x)
VB (x)
dV (x)
dt
()
x
min {.}
u
u
dVB (x)
dt
Haldane-inhibition constant (g L1 )
half-saturation constant (g L1 )
feeding ow rate to the reactor (L h1 )
phenol concentration (g L1 )
time (h)
volume of medium in the reactor (L)
biomass concentration (g L1 )
observed growth yield (g g1 )
Control Lyapunov Function
Bellman function
derivative of the CLF along the trajectories of the
system (*)
state of the control system
minimum of all control functions u
optimal control
(u=u )
control is optimal
performance index
Greek symbols
(x)
penalty function of the state
specic growth rate (h1 )
max
maximum specic growth rate (h1 )
Subscript
0
initial value
f
nal value
Superscript
value at the entry of the reactor
in
257
CLF approach for synthesizing the controller. The kinetic model and
the control strategy were validated experimentally in a fedbatch
process of phenol biodegradation. A reference culture was also carried out to compare its performance against that of the controlled
process.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Organisms and chemicals
Samples of activated sludge were obtained from the aeration
tank of a plant treating municipal wastewater (Pachuca, Mexico).
Phenol was supplied by SigmaAldrich (Germany); all other chemicals were purchased from J.T. Baker (U.S.A.).
2.2. Acclimation of activated sludge Reference fedbatch cycle
The acclimation of activated sludge to phenol was carried out by
cycles with the following sequence of operations: feeding, aeration,
settling and drawing. Each day, 1 L of mineral medium (Section 2.6)
supplied with a variable volume of concentrated phenol solution
(20 g L1 ) was added to 1 L of activated sludge. After 23 h of aeration
and agitation and 0.58 h of settling, the supernatant was drained in
0.03 h. Following 0.36 h of idle time, fresh medium was fed (0.03 h).
This operation mode was considered the reference cycle; its overall duration was not optimized and was kept at 24 h. Acclimation
of activated sludge was accomplished in nine weeks by increasing
the initial phenol concentration in the medium (S0 ) from 0.005 to
0.45 g L1 using 0.05 g L1 steps on a weekly basis. This S0 value
(0.45 g L1 ) and a total suspended solids (TSS) concentration in the
reactor of 46 g L1 were maintained afterwards, in order to provide a biomass with similar characteristics for the assays. At least
once a week, the exhaustion of phenol was veried at the end of the
cycle. The phenol concentration in the efuent was always lower
than 2 104 g L1 .
2.3. Batch cultures
258
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
Fig. 1. Schematic setup of the fedbatch reactor system. 1: Programmer logic controller (PLC); 2: air pump; 3: feed tank; 4: controlled feeding pump; 5: magnet bar; 6:
magnetic stirrer; 7: air diffuser; 8: reactor vessel; 9: efuent tank; 10: sampling port; 11: controlled drawing pump; 12: monitoring computer. The discontinuous lines
represent control signals.
Q
X
V
(2)
Q
S = X + (S in S)
Y
V
(3)
V = Q
(4)
/ 0), Y
where V is the volume of the medium in the reactor (V(t0 ) =
is the observed growth yield (assumed as constant) and Sin is the
phenol concentration in the feeding medium.
The parameters were estimated by using the hill-climbing
method [11]. This algorithm is fully explained in Appendix A.
2.9. Implementation of the controller
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
259
higher than the upper limit of the range of values reported for
phenol-degrading mixed cultures [1922]. Actually, this value is
closer to those exhibited by axenic cultures as Cupriavidus taiwanensis [16] and Pseudomonas putida [17], which suggests the
absence of microbial competition for phenol [22]. The value found
for Ki is in the wide range of values reported for mixed cultures,
namely 0.0721.199 g L1 [1922]. This value indicates that the
inhibition effect is observed rather at high phenol concentrations.
Such a resistance to substrate inhibition is probably due to the
previous acclimation of the activated sludge. It has been reported
that acclimated bacteria can develop mechanisms to counteract
the increased uidity of the membrane caused by phenol [1]. In
Pseudomonas putida, the resistance mechanism consists in the isomerization of cis-unsaturated fatty acids to the trans-conguration,
leading to more rigid cell membranes [1]. The acclimated sludge
showed a low afnity for phenol, as its KS value was higher
than the superior limit of the range of values signaled for mixed
cultures (0.0050.266 g L1 [1922]). Besides the Haldane parameters, the hill-climbing algorithm found Y = 0.8 g protein g1 phenol.
This parameter cannot be compared with the bibliography values
because they are commonly expressed in terms of g of TSS, not of
protein, per g of phenol.
Simulations of the batch runs were made by using the dynamical
model given by Eqs. (1)(4) and the aforementioned parameters, and by setting Q = 0 for this mode of culture. Results are
given in Fig. 4. At least for the range of S0 that has been studied (0.200.60 g L1 ), the model exhibited an adequate estimation
ability. This was evidenced by Pearson coefcients (R2 ) being comprised between 0.96 and 0.99.
3.3. Control strategy
The model presented in Eqs. (1)(4) was considered the control
system, taking as input the feeding ow (Q) to the reactor. The state
of the system was described by the following variables: volume of
medium in the reactor (V), phenol concentration (S) and biomass
content (X). To compensate the lack of online measurements of the
two later variables, a state feedback controller was synthesized by
using a CLF [8,9,23]. However, it was applied in open loop by obtaining the signal of control from a simulation and considering this
signal as the ow prole.
260
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
Table 1
Summary of Haldane kinetic parameters obtained for phenol biodegradation.
Microorganism/culture
Haldane-model constants
Bacillus brevis
Cupriavidus taiwanensis
P. putida ATCC 17484
Ralstonia eutropha
Activated sludge
Activated sludge
Mixed culture
Activated sludge
Activated sludge
Ref.
max (h1 )
Ks (g L1 )
Ki (g L1 )
0.0260.078
0.50
0.534
0.410
0.119
0.1310.363
0.308
0.438
0.600
0.0020.029
0.061
<0.001
0.002
0.011
0.0050.266
0.045
0.029
0.385
0.8682.434
0.280
0.470
0.350
0.251
0.1421.199
0.525
0.072
0.700
T
state x = X S V
was dened and the input was set as u = Q.
Phenol concentration was controlled (S 0) by using the input u.
The control system was rewritten as follows:
x = f0 (x) + f1 (x)u
(5)
where V (x) denotes the gradient of the scalar function V (x) and
() denotes the inner product. Now, consider the Bellman equation
[24].
dVB (x)
+ (x, u ) = 0
dt
(u=u )
(8)
where
X
Y
f0 (x) = X
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
This study
T
f1 (x) =
VX
S in S
V
T
1
(6)
T
dV (x)
= V (x) f0 (x) + V (x) f1 (x)u
dt (5)
(7)
J=
(x, u)dt
0
where the function (x, u) is positive-denite. As for nonlinear systems it is very difcult to construct or to propose a Bellman function
VB (x) satisfying the Eq. (8), a candidate Lyapunov function V (x) for
the system was proposed (Eq. (7)). With this approximation for
the Bellman function, a control u that satises the Eq. (9) was
investigated.
min
u
dV (x)
+ (x)
dt (5)
(9)
In a previous work [23], a suboptimal controller for an electromechanical system was presented, where the function (.)
depends on both the state and the controller. For simplicity, in this
work (x) is proposed only as a state function. The function (x)
penalizes the state variables in order to obtain a fast or a slow convergence to the state x . Simulation results showed that the control
of the biomass X is very complex, but the variable S can be controlled in such a way that S 0 in a nite time. By substituting Eq.
(7) in Eq. (9), the following expression was obtained:
x)
1 (
min D(x, u) .
u
Note that if the scalar term D(x, u) < 0, one can conclude that the
system is stable in closed loop following the sufcient conditions of
the stability Lyapunov theorem [9]. By the projection theorem, the
controller was nally obtained (Eq. (10)). As the CLF is not a Bellman
function, the controller proposed herein is of suboptimal-type.
u(x) =
0 (x) 1 (x)
T (x)
1 (x)
1
0,
when
when
x)
0 (
x)
0 (
0
>0
(10)
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
261
Table 2
Controlled fedbatch cycle.
Phase/actuator
Feeding
Aeration
Settling
Draw
Duration [h]
Feed pump
Magnetic stirrer
Air pump
Drawing pump
4
On
On
On
Off
6
Off
On
On
Off
0.58
Off
Off
Off
Off
0.03
Off
Off
Off
On
The function V (x) was proposed to apply in open loop the controller to the reactor system:
V (x) = x T x
whilst a penalty function (x) was proposed as follows:
(x) = 0.1X 2 + 5S 2 + 1.4V 2
The function (x) penalizes the convergence of the state x , as
it gives negativity to the derivative of the CLF V (x). This is a
positive-denite function and the three scalars (0.1, 5 and 1.4)
were heuristically proposed by considering that the biomass content (X) could be relatively high and that the phenol concentration
(S) should be depleted as soon as possible to minimize the inhibition phenomena. Note that function V (x) is a CLF for the system
(Eqs. (5)(6)), because 1 (x) = 0 if x = 0.
3.4. Experimental validation of the model and the control strategy
As mentioned previously, the aim of the control strategy was to
minimize the length of the cycle by maintaining the phenol concentration at not-inhibitory levels. The simulation of the controller
(Eq. (10)) allowed to obtain a feeding pattern (Fig. 5a) to the reactor
and an initial ow rate (Q0 ) of 20.11 L h1 . Fig. 5b shows the volume prole obtained by simulation of the control strategy from an
initial value (V0 ) of 1 L. According to this prole, the reactor volume
reaches 1.99 L after 4 h of feeding. A fedbatch cycle was designed
from this pattern (Table 2).
The sequence of operations shown in Table 2 was programmed
in the PLC and conducted in open loop in the reactor system
(Fig. 1) with the same initial conditions used in the simulation
(Q0 = 20.11 L h1 , V0 = 1 L). The phenol concentration in the medium
entering to the reactor (Sin ) was 1 g L1 , and the initial biomass
Fig. 6. Phenol consumption () and biomass growth () during the controlled fedbatch cycle. The symbols represent the experimental results and the continuous
lines, the data resulting from the simulated kinetic model.
Fig. 5. Simulation of the controller. (a) Feeding ow rate (Q) to the reactor [L h1 ]; (b) resulting volume (V) prole of the reactor medium [L].
262
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
Table 3
Operating parameters of the controlled and reference cycles of the fedbatch reactor.
Parameter
Unit
Controlled cycle
Reference cycle
Cycle duration
Hydraulic retention time
Treated ow
X0
Applied phenol load
Phenol mass load
h
h
L h1
g TSS L1
g phenol L1 d1
g phenol g1 TSS d1
10.61
21.28
0.09
0.23
1.13
4.82
24
47.62
0.04
6.10
0.45
0.09
Table 4
Results of the parameter sensitivity analysis.
Parameter
Nominal value
Minimum and
maximum values
Mean absolute
error, S [g L1 ]
Mean absolute
error, X [g L1 ]
max
KS
Ki
0.600
0.385
0.700
0.300/0.900
0.193/0.578
0.350/1.050
0.116/0.039
0.029/0.028
0.020/0.006
0.093/0.031
0.023/0.022
0.016/0.005
U. Ba
nos-Rodrguez et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 189190 (2012) 256263
(A.1)
= max
Ks
Ki
2. Vector initialization. The components i (i = 1,. . ., 4) were generated randomly. This vector was called best-evaluated.
3. Mutation. The i of the best-evaluated vector were mutated
according to a random variable, as:
i = i +
where is an uniform random variable [11].
4. Fitness calculation. The index given by Eq. (A.1) depends on
the components i ; then, the tness of the mutated vector was
dened as:
f () =
1
e()
5. If the tness was strictly greater than the tness of the bestevaluated vector, then the best-evaluated vector was set as the
mutated vector.
6. If the maximum number of iterations has been performed, then
return to the best-evaluated vector. Otherwise, go to step 3.
The simulation was made for each iteration in order to obtain
the values Ssimulated and Xsimulated , needed for the calculation of e().
The number of iterations was xed at 1000.
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