Search results for "ecological modeling"
showing 10 items of 292 documents
Uncertainty related to climate change in the assessment of the DDF curve parameters
2017
In the context of climate change, the evaluation of the parameters of Depth-Duration-Frequency (DDF) curves has become a critical issue. Neglecting future rainfall variations could result in an overestimation/underestimation of DDF parameters and, consequently, of the design storm. In this study, uncertainty analysis was integrated into trend analysis to provide an estimate of trends that cannot actually be rigorously verified. A Bayesian procedure was suggested for the updating of DDF curve parameters and to evaluate the uncertainty related to their assessment. The proposed procedure also allowed identification of the years of a series that contributed most to the overall uncertainty relat…
Reverse electrodialysis performed at pilot plant scale: Evaluation of redox processes and simultaneous generation of electric energy and treatment of…
2017
Abstract This paper describes the experimental campaign carried out with a reverse electrodialysis (RED) demonstration plant (Marsala, Italy) with the main aims of: (i) evaluating the effect of various operating parameters, including the redox processes, on the system performances; (ii) using the plant for the simultaneous generation of electric energy and treatment of wastewater. The prototype (44 × 44 cm2, 500 cell pairs) was tested using both real (brackish water and brine) and artificial solutions. Tests with two different electrode rinse solutions (with or without iron redox couples) were performed. In agreement with the data obtained in the laboratory, the presence of iron ions contri…
Modelling the metabolic shift of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms
2014
Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is one of the most important methods of phosphorus removal in municipal wastewater treatment plants, having been described by different modelling approaches. In this process, the PAOs (polyphosphate accumulating organisms) and GAOs (glycogen accumulating organisms) compete for volatile fatty acids uptake under anaerobic conditions. Recent studies have revealed that the metabolic pathways used by PAOs in order to obtain the energy and the reducing power needed for polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesis could change depending on the amount of polyphosphate stored in the cells. The model presented in this paper extends beyond previously developed metaboli…
Neural Modeling of Greenhouse Gas Emission from Agricultural Sector in European Union Member Countries
2018
The present paper discusses a novel methodology based on neural network to determine agriculture emission model simulations. Methane and nitrous oxide are the key pollutions among greenhouse gases being a major contribution to climate changes because of their high potential global impact. Using statistical clustering (k-means and Ward’s method), five meaningful clusters of countries with similar level of greenhouse gases emission were identified. Neural modeling using multi-layer perceptron networks was performed for countries placed in particular groups. The parameters that characterize the quality of a network are the predictive errors (mainly validation and test) and they are high (0.97–…
Aerobic moving bed biofilm reactor treating thermomechanical pulping whitewater under thermophilic conditions.
2002
The continuously operated laboratory scale Kaldnes moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) was used for thermophilic (55 degrees C) aerobic treatment of TMP whitewater. In the MBBR, the biomass is grown on carrier elements that move along with the water in the reactor. Inoculation with mesophilic activated sludge gave 60-65% SCOD removal from the first day onwards. During the 107 days of experiment, the 60-65% SCOD removals were achieved at organic loading rates of 2.5-3.5 kg SCODm(-3) d(-1), the highest loading rates applied during the run and HRT of 13-22h. Carbohydrates, which contributed to 50-60% of the influent SCOD. were removed by 90-95%, while less than 15% of the lignin-like material (3…
Comparison of organic peracids in wastewater treatment: Disinfection, oxidation and corrosion.
2015
The use of organic peracids in wastewater treatment is attracting increasing interest. The common beneficial features of peracids are effective anti-microbial properties, lack of harmful disinfection by-products and high oxidation power. In this study performic (PFA), peracetic (PAA) and perpropionic acids (PPA) were synthesized and compared in laboratory batch experiments for the inactivation of Escherichia coli and enterococci in tertiary wastewater, oxidation of bisphenol-A and for corrosive properties. Disinfection tests revealed PFA to be a more potent disinfectant than PAA or PPA. 1.5 mg L(-1) dose and 2 min of contact time already resulted in 3.0 log E. coli and 1.2 log enterococci r…
An extension of ASM2d including pH calculation
2003
This paper presents an extension of the Activated Sludge Model No. 2d (ASM2d) including a chemical model able to calculate the pH value in biological processes. The developed chemical model incorporates the complete set of chemical species affecting the pH value to ASM2d describing non-equilibrium biochemical processes. It considers the system formed by one aqueous phase, in which biochemical processes take place, and one gaseous phase, and is based on the assumptions of instantaneous chemical equilibrium under liquid phase and kinetically governed mass transport between the liquid and gas phase. The ASM2d enlargement comprises the addition of every component affecting the pH value and an i…
Use of an artificial model of monitoring data to aid interpretation of principal component analysis
2000
Abstract An artificial data matrix of element concentrations at sampling locations was created which included six simulated gradients of correlated variables (Ca+Mg, Ni+V, Pb+Cu+Zn, Cd, Fe and K), representing a simplified model of a National survey. The data matrix model was used to explore the efficiency with which Principal Components Analysis (PCA), without and with Varimax rotation, could derive the imposed gradients. The dependence of PCA on outliers was decreased by log-transformation of data. The Components derived from non-rotated PCA were confounded by bipolar clusters and oblique gradients, both resulting in superimposition of two independent gradients on one Component. Therefore…
Identifiability analysis for receiving water body quality modelling
2009
In urban drainage, new computational possibilities have supported the development of new integrated approaches aimed at joint water quantity and quality analysis of the whole urban drainage system. Although the benefit of an integrated approach has been widely demonstrated, to date, several aspects prevent its applicability such as scarce availability of field data if compared with model complexity. These aspects sometimes prevent the correct estimation of parameters thus leading to large uncertainty in modelling response. This is a typical parameter identifiability problem that is discussed in the present paper evaluating the effect of identifiability procedures in increasing operator conf…
Rapid and improved identification of drinking water bacteria using the Drinking Water Library, a dedicated MALDI-TOF MS database.
2021
Abstract According to the European Directives (UE) 2020/2184 and 2009/54/EC, which establishes the sanitary criteria for water intended for human consumption in Europe, water suitable for human consumption must be free of the bacterial indicators Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens and Enterococcus spp. Drinking water is also monitored for heterotrophic bacteria, which are not a human health risk, but can serve as an index of bacteriological water quality. Therefore, a rapid, accurate, and cost-effective method for the identification of these colonies would improve our understanding of the culturable bacteria of drinking water and facilitate the task of water management by treatment f…