On-line estimation of the nitrification process

A real-time estimator for the nitrification process in biological wastewater treatment is considered from the system dynamics point of view. It makes use of a minimum of structural process information and is based on nitrate-nitrogen measurements only. After illustrating the basic algorithm, the analysis is extended to the estimation of nitrification kinetics. The estimator was tested through numerical simulations performed with the IAWPRC model n.1, used as a data generator, and demonstrates the effectiveness of the combined autotrophic biomass/kinetics estimator.