A hybrid modeling, monitoring and control approach for wastewater treatment plants

目前，污水处理厂的设计使用相当详细的第一性原理模型，这些模型能够捕捉过程的主要动态，但不一定能非常准确地预测变量。为一个新的厂区校准这些模型仍然是一个重大的挑战。缺乏精确的模型意味着对这些工厂进行可靠的监测和优化运行是不容易实现的。工厂运行数据变得越来越容易获得，并且已经努力使用完全数据驱动的方法来模拟工厂行为。然而，在数据驱动的方法中缺乏第一原则信息，使得数据驱动的模型容易过度拟合，并且不适合外推。在这些考虑的推动下，本提案将开发混合模型，以利用第一原则模型中存在的信息的方式，无缝地协同数据驱动方法和第一原则模型。该项目是一个成功的参与赠款的后续项目，其中证明了所提议的想法的概念。本建议将在此基础上进行实际案例研究，并推广到监测和反馈控制的广泛应用。对工业合作伙伴Hydromantis的直接好处是极大地扩大了客户。考虑到正在开发的工具的广泛性，通过将该方法应用于从石油化工到制药到钢铁制造等广泛的生产设施，将为加拿大经济带来额外的好处。

Wastewater treatment plants are currently designed using fairly detailed first principles models that are able to capture the dominant dynamics of the process, but not necessarily predict the variables very accurately. The calibration of these models for a new plant site remains a significant challenge. The lack of precise models means that reliable monitoring and optimum operation of these plants is not readily achieved. Plant operation data is becoming increasingly more available, and efforts have been made to use completely data driven approaches to model the plant behaviour. The lack of first principles information in the data driven approaches, however, makes the data driven models susceptible to overfitting and not amenable to extrapolation. Motivated by these considerations, the present proposal will develop hybrid models that seamlessly synergies data driven approaches with first principles models in a way to leverage the information present in the first principles model. This project is a followup to a successful engage grant where a proof of concept for the proposed idea was demonstrated. The present proposal will build on that with real case studies, and generalize to significantly expanded applications of monitoring and feedback control. The direct benefit to the industrial partner Hydromantis is an immensely broadened clientele. Given the broad nature of the tool being developed, additional benefit to Canadian economy will be realized through adaptation of the approach to a broad ranges of production facilities ranging from petrochemicals to pharmaceuticals to steel manufacturing.