Modeling and optimizing of an actual municipal sewage plant: A comparison of diverse multi-objective optimization methods

Hongliang Dai; Zeyu Wang; Jinkun Zhao; Xiaoyu Jia; Lan Liu; Jun Wang; Haq Nawaz Abbasi; Zechong Guo; Yong Chen; Hongya Geng; Xingang Wang

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116924

Modeling and optimizing of an actual municipal sewage plant: A comparison of diverse multi-objective optimization methods

J Environ Manage. 2023 Feb 15:328:116924. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116924. Epub 2022 Dec 15.

Authors

Hongliang Dai¹, Zeyu Wang², Jinkun Zhao³, Xiaoyu Jia⁴, Lan Liu⁵, Jun Wang⁶, Haq Nawaz Abbasi⁷, Zechong Guo⁸, Yong Chen⁹, Hongya Geng¹⁰, Xingang Wang¹¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China; School of Environmental and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: daihongliang@just.edu.cn.
² School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: wangzeyu0626@163.com.
³ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: m18272847570@163.com.
⁴ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: jxy18051871982@163.com.
⁵ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: ll3020774175@163.com.
⁶ Zhengrunzhou Sewage Treatment Plant of Everbright Sponge City Development Co., Ltd, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: wangjun-@ebwater.com.
⁷ Department of Environmental Science, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan. Electronic address: hn.abbasi@fuuast.edu.pk.
⁸ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China; School of Environmental and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: guozechong@just.edu.cn.
⁹ School of Environmental and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: ychen@hust.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Department of Materials, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. Electronic address: taste99@iccas.ac.cn.
¹¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China. Electronic address: hofs@just.edu.cn.

PMID: 36525736
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116924

Abstract

The activated sludge process of an actual municipal sewage treatment plant was systematically modeled, calibrated, and verified in this study. Identified multi-objective optimization (MOO) methods were employed to optimize the process parameters of the validated model, and the optimal MOO algorithm was obtained by comparing Pareto solution sets. The optimization model consisted of three key evaluation indicators (objective functions), which are the average effluent quality (AEQ), overall cost index (OCI), and total volume (TV) of the biochemical tank, along with 12 more process parameters (decision variables). Three optimization algorithms, i.e., adaptive non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm III (ANSGA-III), non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II), and particle swarm algorithm (PSO), were adopted using MATLAB. The comparison of these algorithms demonstrated that the ANSGA-III algorithm had better Pareto solution sets under the triple objective optimization, and the effluent quality of COD, TN, NH₄⁺-N, and TP after optimization decreased by 2.22, 0.47, 0.13, and 0.02 mg/L, respectively. Additionally, the simulated AEQ was reduced by 13% compared to the original effluent, and the OCI and TV decreased from 21,023 kWh d^-1 and 17,065 m³ to 20,226 kWh d^-1 and 16,530 m³, respectively. The reported ANSGA-III algorithm and the proposed multi-objective method have a promising ability for energy conservation, emission reduction, and upgrading of municipal sewage treatment plants.

Keywords: Activated sludge model; Energy-saving and emission-reduction; Multi-objective optimization; Municipal sewage treatment plant.

MeSH terms

Algorithms*
Sewage*

Substances

Sewage