Numerical methods for simulating biofilm models

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EnviroSim Associates Ltd. (www.envirosim.com) develops and markets leading edge wastewater modelling and simulation software. EnviroSim's flagship product, BioWin, is used worldwide to design, upgrade, and optimize wastewater treatment plants. A comprehensive mathematical model (such as the one underlying BioWin's calculations) for the simulation of wastewater treatment plant behaviour must account for a large number of reactions between many components. Typically, this results in a large, sparse system consisting of non-linear ordinary differential equations and non-linear algebraic equations. Since 2007, the nature of the models has changed to incorporate new technologies being employed in wastewater treatment known collectively as biofilm systems. Due to their nature and increasing size, simulating dynamically such systems is becoming computationally very expensive with BioWin. For example, a plant simulation could take several days, which leads to extended project schedules and budgets. For this reason, EnviroSim crucially requires a technology for efficient dynamic simulation of biofilm systems. The goal of this project is to develop a fast, accurate, and scalable numerical method for their simulation. EnviroSim is poised to make significant inroads to the Chinese market, and improving BioWin's simulation speed of biofilm systems will help EnviroSim gain a competitive advantage in this important market, furthering Canada's reputation as a country that fosters the growth of environmental technologies. BioWin is used as a design tool by Canadian engineers, and maintaining its ability to simulate efficiently these emerging technologies will encourage their use in Canadian wastewater treatment plant design, resulting in wastewater treatment plants that are more effective at meeting stringent effluent limits, and that do so more efficiently in terms of energy and resource use.