WATER AND ENVIRONMENT
TECHNOLOGY
OptimEDAR,
Optimized Management of Urban
Wastewater Treatment Plants
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Index
Background
OptimEDAR Solution
Description of the Wastewater Treatment Process
Traditional Systems of Regulatory Processes
Operation of the OptimEDAR System
Elements of the Solution
Technical Advantages
Case Study
On-Line Monitoring of the Quality of the Effluent
Conclusions
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 2
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Background
The increase in contamination and the energy required for treating the water are growing concerns in
countries around the world.
Most WWTP (wastewater treatment plants) must comply with the international guidelines for treating
wastewater and must be updated for carrying out the elimination of nutrients.
The large investment made in the construction of WWTP in many cases has not been followed by a
proper operation. (In general, the WWTP of small towns lack the human, technical and financial
resources required for efficiently managing the plants).
Basic problems encountered by medium and small WWTP
Energy consumption:
A large part of the energy consumption required for treating wastewater is generated by the
aeration of the biological reactor. Often the basic control of the aeration is not prepared to adapt to
the actual amount of contamination.
Production, treatment and elimination of sludge, where its optimisation must be
compatible with the guarantee of maintaining the quality of the effluent.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 3
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
OptimEDAR solution
Optimizes the operation of the biological reactor of
small and medium WWTP that are not permanently
supervised.
Main objectives:
Reduce the electrical consumption.
Optimize the production of sludge.
Guarantee a better quality of effluent.
Increase the productivity of the entire system.
Expected benefits 25% reduction in expenses related with electrical
power consumption.
Improved quality of effluent water; at least 20% less
nitrogen and phosphate.
15% reduction in the production of sludge.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 4
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
OptimEDAR Solution
Simple and rugged automatic control system. Ensures there is a balance in the operations of the plant for as long a time as possible.
In a completely automatic manner, it corrects deviations and drives the process to the
desired stability point in as little time as possible.
Easy to install.
Does not interfere with the existing automatic processes. The system overlaps with the control system allowing the operator to operate using the
existing automatic processes and criteria or to easily switch to the OptimEDAR system.
Reliable and easy to operate.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 5
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Description of the Wastewater Treatment Process
AMMONIFICATION
Organic nitrogen
Ammoniacal nitrogen
NITRIFICATION
Ammoniacal nitrogen
Nitrite
Nitrate
DENITRIFICATION
Nitrate
System based on the sequence of anaerobic-aerobic-anoxic
control cycles.
Nitrogen gas
WASTE WATER
Organic nitrogen (60%)
Ammoniacal nitrogen (40%)
Sewerage network
Start blowers Stop blowers
Wastewater treatment plant
• Negative Redox potential
• Dissolved oxygen very low
• Oxidation of carbon
• OXIDATION Redox Potential
• Carbon supply with RECIRCULATION
• Oxidation of carbon
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 6
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Traditional Systems of Regulatory Processes
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 7
Time Setpoint Oxygen Setpoint Redox Setpoint OptimEDAR
Elimination of Organic
Matter
Elimination of Ammonium
Elimination of Nitrates
Elimination of
Orthophosphates
Observations
(*) Elimination of
nitrates and
Phosphates if OFF for
a long time.
Does not detect points
of contamination or of
NTK.
Reduction of the
Electrical Power
Consumption.
Slow response times
during high loads.
Generation of
filamentary Organic
materials (in time).
(*) High performance in
the elimination of
phosphates.
x x
x
* *
*
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
OptimEDAR System Operation
OptimEDAR system philosophy System based on continuous respirometry (Oxygen Probe).
Control of the sequence of anaerobic-aerobic-anoxic control cycles.
Assesses the oxygen needs in the bioreactor in each cycle and decision making.
Intelligent control establishing when each cycle must be executed based on the
contamination of the effluent.
Supplements and corrects
deficiencies in the REDOX system.
Control parameters Dissolved oxygen.
Redox potential.
Controlled variable Oxygenation time of the reactor.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 8
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Components of the OptimEDAR System (*)
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 9
(*) Use of off-the-shelf components.
Control cabinet
Probes cabinet
Control centre
Dissolved oxygen probe
Redox probe
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Components of the OptimEDAR System
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 10
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Technical Advantages
Reduce operating expenses.
Increase the quality of the wastewater treatment. Stable operation of the biological reactor.
Recovery of the balance in case of important deviations in the inflow or uncontrollable
external conditions.
Improve the operational efficiency. Optimization of the energy consumption.
Degree of stability of the sludge, providing an optimum state for treating water.
Guarantee the quality of the effluent. Complete elimination of organic matter.
Complete elimination of the contents of nitrogen.
High performance in the elimination of orthophosphates.
Elimination of oxygen in the denitrification process.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 11
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Case Study: WWTP of Albuera (Spain)
WWTP with a population equivalent to 4,000 PE. Type: Town
Surface area (km2): 26.4
Population: 1,900
Altitude: 253 m
Judicial District: Badajoz
Country: Spain
WWTP Population equivalent 4,000 PE
Total Volume 1,000 m3/day
Average flow 41.67 m3/h
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 12
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 13
Case Study: WWTP of Albuera (Spain)
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
01/12/2008 01/12/2008 02/12/2008 02/12/2008 03/12/2008 03/12/2008 04/12/2008 04/12/2008 05/12/2008
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
OXIGENO REDOX
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
12/12/2008 12/12/2008 13/12/2008 13/12/2008 14/12/2008 14/12/2008 15/12/2008 15/12/2008 16/12/2008
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
50
100
150
200
250
OXIGENO ECO REDOX
Prior to OptimEDAR
After OptimEDAR
20% energy savings The oxygen demand curve shows a decrease
in the operating time and the number of
operations of the blowers.
The progress of the concentration after installing the OptimEDAR
system was considerably reduced:
3 days after the start of operations, the concentration of nitrates
decreased from 170mg/l to 4mg/l.
Amount of nitrates at the Output
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 14
Case Study: WWTP of Albuera (Spain)
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
On-Line Monitoring of the Quality of the Effluent
OptimEDAR can be supplemented with the small mobile trailer, which is used for
automatically and continuously monitoring the output of effluent in the WWTP:
Verify the good operation of the WWTP.
View the output of the effluent.
Immediately alert the operator regarding possible problems encountered in the treatment if a
toxic substance enters in the system.
Functionalities of the small trailer:
Can be easily transported and moved.
Easy installation.
Does not affect the existing infrastructure.
Small, reliable and rugged.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 15
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
On-Line Monitoring of the Quality of the Effluent
Small mobile trailer comprised of:
Analyzer multiparametric aquaTest-MO for
continuously monitoring the basic physical-
chemical parameters and the organic matter:
Temperature 4-40ºC.
pH 0-14 upH (compensated at 25ºC).
Conductivity 0-20 mS/cm.
Dissolved oxygen 0-12 ppm (0-20ppm
optional).
Redox +/- 2500 mV.
Turbidity 0-300 NTU.
Measured organic matter at 254 nm (0 to
400 Abs/m).
Webcam for capturing images.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 16
System of communications and standard
protocols for the acquisition of data.
www.optimedar.eu - www.adasasistemas.com
Conclusions
Improves the quality of the wastewater treatment. Achieves a stable operation of the biological reactor.
Recovers the balance in case of important deviations in the inflow or uncontrollable
external conditions.
Ensures a decrease in operating costs. Optimizes the energy consumption by adapting the operation to the actual load of the
reactor.
Improves the stability and reduces the generation of sludge.
Guarantees the quality of the effluent. Eliminates the carbon demand.
Eliminates the content of nitrogen.
High performance in the elimination of phosphorous.
Reduced installation costs. Solution easily installed.
Quick return on investment.
OptimEDAR, Optimized Management of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants | 17