Extremum-seeking control of redox processes in wastewater chemical treatment plants

Monitoring and control of redox processes are key to operate wastewater chemical treatment plants at high-loading-rate whilst rejecting concentration and composition disturbances. Carbon dioxide concentration and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) are selected as key inferential measurements of oxidation kinetics and oxidant reagent consumption. An extremum-seeking control cascade is proposed for increased automation of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The logic of the master loop is designed to constantly drive ORP readings to its achievable maximum. The logic of the control strategy is simple and cheap to implement using standard sensors and control hardware.