DIAMOND

Advanced data management and informatics for the optimum operation and control of wastewater treatment plants

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Nowadays most of the EU countries treat practically the totality of the volume of urban waste water (WW) generated. However, a deep look at the performance of most of the existing wastewater treatment facilities (WWTP) evidences that significant steps forward can still be given in terms of effluent quality, process robustness and operational costs. One of the main technical limitations for optimizing plant operation some years ago was the lack of reliable measuring devices. At present, new and more reliable on-line sensors are available and the main limitation for the optimal operation of WWTPs is, clearly, the great difficulty to properly manage all the heterogeneous, incomplete and, sometimes inconsistent data of the WWTPs. WWTPs daily manage thousands of data from all points of the plant. The likelihood that data errors and/or faults occur has consequently highly increased. Also, unexpected situations occurring in the plants make sensors not fully reliable yet sending incorrect data to the data management systems. Using these data for real-time operation and control activities could lead to a drastic deterioration of the wastewater treatment efficiency. The appropriate processing and management of the data available in a WWTP nowadays exceed the capacity of the staff of the WWTP, limiting the use of the information available for diagnosis and operation tasks. Advanced on-line data fault detection and monitoring tools could alert operators from sensors showing unrealistic or incorrect data whereas, real-time data processing and adequation tools could make data more reliable. Project DIAMOND aims to achieve a model of excellence in the management of wastewater treatment systems by addressing the design, development, implementation and validation of new advanced data management, monitoring and control algorithms and tools for supporting the optimum operation of WWTPs. This objective is of great interest for the scientific and industrial communities related to WWTPs.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) must handle large amounts of data from different sources and of varied quality, making it difficult for operators to identify the plant's status. An EU initiative addressed this problem by enabling all available data to be successfully managed.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The EU-funded http://www.diamond-eu.org/ (DIAMOND) (Advanced data management and informatics for the optimum operation and control of wastewater treatment plants) project was established to enhance the operation of WWTPs. This was achieved through the efficient, intelligent and continuous management of available plant data, as well as process performance monitoring and automatic control strategies.

Currently, a number of software tools are used to aid decision making in the day-to-day running of WWTPs and help maintain them at an optimum level. The information used comes from a range of sources, including online sensors and analysers, laboratory tests, meteorology data and manually collected data.

Complex decisions must therefore be based on a large number of variables, which come in different formats. Successful operation depends on the reliability and completeness of collected data, together with the quality of the information extracted and its accessibility.

The DIAMOND project involved the standard centralisation of heterogeneous data acquired from different sources, plus effective data processing to detect faulty sensor data. The resulting information was used in tools focused on operational optimisation of the plant.

Project partners developed the advanced data management platform (ADAM tool) to ensure the provision of high-quality data. This tool facilitated the straightforward connection and implementation of advanced process monitoring and control tools, enabling the optimisation of WWTP operations around the world.

The ADAM tool includes additional modules that calculate estimated values for unmeasured parameters and calculate and monitor plant-wide key performance indicators, indicating WWTP status. Researchers also examined the design, development and implementation of two advanced plant operation systems based on information provided by the ADAM tool.

The first system was an advanced monitoring system of plant-wide key performance indicators. The second system was an advanced control system based on plant-wide control algorithms, which optimises plant operation according to economic and environmental criteria.

DIAMOND outcomes will enable WWTPs to improve their operations, minimise waste (thereby protecting water quality) and reduce energy consumption. Moreover, the knowledge gained will help Europe become a leader in sustainable wastewater treatment processes.

Potential customers for DIAMOND include public bodies and environmental engineering, automation engineering and sensor manufacturing companies.