title: Design of a tracer test experience and dynamic calibration of the hydraulic model for a full-scale wastewater treatment plant by use of AQUASIM.
abstract: The setup of the hydraulic model structure of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is an important step in the calibration of activated sludge models. The hydrodynamics of a full-scale municipal WWTP (Monterrey, Mexico) has been studied by means of the use of tracer tests and of a commercial simulator. A presimulation approach allowed the authors to quantify the appropriate rhodamine mass, set up a sampling plan, and evaluate the anticipated visual effect of the tracer test in the receiving river. The hydraulic behavior of the aeration tank for the first treatment line, a 7-cell plug-flow reactor, was shown to be best represented by 5 virtual mixed-tanks-in-series. The second treatment line, which included a vertical loop reactor (VLR), was best modeled as 3 tanks-in-series. The VLR, alone, was shown to be similar to a continuously stirred tank reactor, and not a circuit of tanks, as generally used to represent oxidation ditch reactors.
authors.affiliation: Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM), Centro Interamericano de Recursos del Agua (CIRA), Apartado Postal 367, TOLUCA, Estado de Mexico CP 50091, Mexico. cfall@uaemex.mx
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fall
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Loaiza-Navia
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D002138:Calibration; D002947:Cities; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008800:Mexico; D012722:Sewage; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*