Modeling the dynamic performance of full-scale anaerobic primary sludge digester using Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 (ADM1)

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most commonly accepted processes applied for the stabilization and treatment of primary sludge generated in municipal wastewater treatment plants enabling energy recovery via biogas production. Understanding and optimizing anaerobic sludge digesters play a key role in sustainability of wastewater treatment plants. Mathematical modeling of biological treatment systems provides several advantages such as better understanding of biochemical processes, interrelations of different biomass types, and impact of environmental conditions on the treatment plant performance. This research presents the modeling of a full-scale anaerobic sludge digester by implementing Anaerobic Digestion Model No. 1 with a limited number of monitored parameters. Model calibration was carried out using a long-term data set. The accuracy of the optimized parameter sets was assessed against measured data obtained from the full-scale sludge digester. The model could predict the methane flow and effluent chemical oxygen demand concentration in good agreement with the measured data. Therefore, the validated model can be used to predict full-scale sludge digester performance under dynamic loadings, and to optimize methane production at different operation conditions.