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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Whole plant modelling has become an increasingly more accessible and popular tool to help engineers and operators understand, design, and optimize the complex interconnected pieces of water resource recovery facilities. It allows the user to simulate multiple scenarios in a speedy, low-cost and low-risk environment to evaluate alternatives, identify necessary improvements, develop design parameters, and evaluate potential operational modifications. The simulations can also be useful for transferring process knowledge between stakeholders. This fact sheet is part of a series on liquid stream fundamentals.
Author(s)
Water Environment Federation
Contributing authorsHeather StewartKristin Waller
SourceFact Sheet of the Water Science and Engineering Center
Project IDWSEC-2017-FS-023
CommitteeMRRDC
Sub CommitteeWEFTEC Session 306
Document typeFact Sheet
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Print publication date Oct 2017
Volume / Issue
Content sourceWater Science and Engineering Center
First / last page(s)1 - 5
Copyright2017
Word count2,350
Subject keywordsPeak FlowsWastewater Treatment
Associated keywords:DesignModelingProcess Control
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
What is Whole Plant Modeling?
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Whole plant modeling, in wastewater treatment, is the mathematical simulation or representation of the many interacting processes and recycle streams that make up a Water Resource Recovery Facility (WWRF) (Figure 1). Wastewater process models use multiple mathematical equations together to describe various unit processes across a WRRF (i.e. primaries, bioreactors, clarifiers, aeration system,...
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count470
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Commercial Simulators
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Although there are general-purpose science and engineering simulators available, whole plant modeling is usually performed using wastewater specific software packages such as the examples listed below. The benefits of using commercial software include an easy to use graphical interface, predetermined data input structures, default process models with default parameters (which result from extensive...
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count112
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Uses of Whole Plant Models
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
To meet today’s effluent standards, most WRRFs utilize many unit processes along their treatment train, with recycle streams that return from one location to another. The utilization of a whole plant model is necessary to make sense of such complex interconnected systems in a way that is not possible with simple calculations or rules of thumb. Simulators also provide a speedy, low-cost and...
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count268
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Modeling Protocol
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
As with any study, it is imperative that protocol is defined and followed in a modeling study. The International Water Association (IWA) Good Modeling Practice (GMP) Task group analyzed the similarities and differences in previously published protocols and developed the GMP unified protocol.
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count220
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Importance of Data Quality for Calibration
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
The accuracy of any model is highly dependent on the quality of the data used to develop the model. A typical colloquialism of whole plant modelers is “Garbage in means garbage out”. The accuracy of the model inputs will directly affect the accuracy of the results it produces, and the modelers confidence in those results. Thus, care should be taken when developing and obtaining model...
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count675
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Limits of Whole Plant Modeling
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Despite their usefulness, it is important to understand the limitations of model accuracy. For example, current simulators cannot currently predict:
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count267
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
Future of Whole Plant Modeling
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
The need for whole plant models will increase as financial limits, land use limits, and stricter effluent limits for recognized and new pollutants continue to drive innovation and affordable high level decision-making. In addition, climate change may result in extreme weather events, previously unknown to a given facility. The development and verification of models is ongoing as is the improvement...
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count142
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Description: Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
References
Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
WEF Municipal Resource Recovery Design Committee
PublisherWater Environment Federation
Copyright2017
Word count119
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Liquid Stream Fundamentals: Whole Plant Modeling
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