Increasing demands on effluent quality and increasing loads in combination with shortage of land area call for an improved control and optimization of wastewater treatment plants. Applied research in automatic control is one important tool in achieving an overall high plant performance. An improved control and optimization of wastewater treatment plants lead to an increased pollutant removal, a reduced need for chemicals and energy savings.

We are developing control and estimation strategies for wastewater treatment plants. In particular, the activated sludge process is studied. A key goal is to develop and evaluate control strategies which can be of practical use in improving the performance of the plants. In several projects we develop methods for reducing the energy consumption without reducing the effluent quality (sometimes the effluent quality even improves!). From 2012, we have broadened our research field and are now also studying monitoring and fault detection in wastewater treatment plants.

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The following researchers in our group perform research in applying methods from automatic control (including monitoring and fault detection) to wastewater treatment technologies:

• Senior researcher: Bengt Carlsson
• Ph.D. student: Johannes Nygren
• Ph.D. student: Tatiana Chistiakova
• Ph.D. student: Oscar Samuelsson

Our publication list is here.
A recent publication "Aeration Control - a review" is open acess, please feel free to download the document:
Aeration Control - a review, Water Science & Technology 67.11 2013

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1. Five Ph.D. theses have been completed in this research area:

• Ammonium Feedback Control in Wastewater Treatment Plants Linda Åmand (2014).

• Interaction Analysis in Multivariable Control Systems. Applications to Bioreactors for Nitrogen Removal Björn Halvarsson (2010).

• Modeling and Control of Bilinear Systems, Applications to the Activated sludge Process, Mats Ekman (2005).

• Control of Nitrogen Removal in Activated Sludge Processes, Pär Samuelsson (2005).

• Control and estimation strategies applied to the activated sludge process, Carl-Fredrik Lindberg (1997). An Errata is available (pdf -format).

2. The most current licentiate thesis is

• Output Feedback Control - Some Methods and Applications, Johannes Nygren (March 2014).

3. A JAVA based simulator of the activated sludge process have been developed. The JASS simulator was 2005 extended to also simulate Biological Phosphorus (BioP) removal. Go to the JASS homepage.

4. A course in Wastewater treatment has been developed for the Master of Science program in Aquatic and Environmental Engineering (in Swedish). The course has been given once a year since 1996. In an evaluation 2006, the course was selected as the best ranked course of all courses evaluated by the Faculty of Science and Technology at Uppsala University.

5. We have developed a three days course entitled "Control of wastewater treatment plants" which is given (in Swedish) for wastewater treatment plant personnel. The course has been given yearly since 1999. See further Svenskt Vatten.

6. Every year, several master theses projects are completed in the area of water and wastewater technologies by students from the Aquatic and Environmental Engineering program, see master theses.

1. Design and evaluation of monitoring and fault detection methods for wastewater treatment systems.
2. Development of control strategies for the wastewater treatment processes.
3. Design of a simulator for the activated sludge process.
4. Economic operation of the activated sludge process.

Most of the older experimental work (92-97) has been performed in a pilot-scale plant at the main municipal wastewater treatment plant, Kungsängsverket, Uppsala. See description.