Innovative aspects

Innovative scientific aspects of the art-ICA controllers

The following is a list of works either published in journals or presented at conferences that demonstrate the innovative scientific aspects of the art-ICA controllers:

1.

Authors: D. Brockmann, J. P. Steyer, W. De Keyser, I. Nopens, F. H. A. Claeys, G. Urchegui and E. Ayesa
Year: 2011
Title: ADD CONTROL: advanced control solutions for waste water treatment
Publication: Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology 10, 3-7
doi: 10.1007/s11157-011-9232-0
Times Cited: 1 (Web of Science 2014, Thomson Reuters)
Impact factor: 2.263 (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)
Journal Ranking: Q2 in Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology, Q2 in Environmental Sciences (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)

2.

Authors: M. Maiza, A. Bengoechea, P. Grau, W. De Keyser, I. Nopens, D. Brockmann, J. P. Steyer, F. Claeys, G. Urchegui and E. Ayesa
Year: 2012
Title: Add Control: plant virtualization for control solutions in WWTP
Publication: IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition, 16 – 22 September, Busan, South Korea
Document: The presentation can be downloaded here: M. Maiza et al. 2012 (1.11 MiB)

3.

Authors: M. Maiza, A. Bengoechea, P. Grau, W. De Keyser, I. Nopens, D. Brockmann, J. P. Steyer, F. Claeys, G. Urchegui and E. Ayesa
Year: 2013
Title: Add Control: plant virtualization for control solutions in WWTP
Publication: Water Science & Technology 68(2), 296-302
doi: 10.2166/wst.2013.225
Times Cited: 0 (Web of Science 2014, Thomson Reuters)
Impact factor: 1.212 (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)
Journal Ranking: Q3 in Engineering, Environmental, Q3 in Environmental Sciences and Q3 in Water Resources (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)
Document: The article can be downloaded here: M. Maiza et al. 2013 (336.6 kiB)

4.

Authors: I. Irizar, S. Beltrán, G. Urchegui, G. Izko, O. Fernández and M. Maiza
Year: 2013
Title: Lessons learnt from the application of advanced controllers in the Mekolalde WWTP: good simulation practices in control
Publication: 11th IWA Conference on Instrumentation, Control and Automation (ICA 2013), 18-20 September, Narbonne, France
Document: The abstract can be downloaded here: I. Irizar et al. 2013 (480.8 kiB)
Document: The presentation can be downloaded here: I. Irizar et al. 2013b (388.6 kiB)

5.

Authors: I. Irizar, S. Beltrán, G. Urchegui, G. Izko, O. Fernández and M. Maiza
Year: 2014
Title: Lessons learnt from the application of advanced controllers in the Mekolalde WWTP: good simulation practices in control
Publication: Water Science & Technology 69(6), 1289-1297
doi: 10.2166/wst.2014.018
Times Cited: 0 (Web of Science 2014, Thomson Reuters)
Impact factor: 1.212 (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)
Journal Ranking: Q3 in Engineering, Environmental, Q3 in Environmental Sciences and Q3 in Water Resources (Journal Citation Reports® 2013, Thomson Reuters)
Document: The article can be downloaded here: I. Irizar et al. 2014 (PDF, 557.9 kiB)

Innovative technical aspects of the art-ICA controllers

In addition to the scientific relevance of the art-ICA controllers, this product also innovates by integrating advanced simulation and advanced automation/control technologies into conventional biological nutrient removal (BNR) plants as follows:

  1. By using this multivariable control product, BNR plants are controlled as a whole. This integrated approach of concurrently controlling and optimizing the three main process variables (total mixed liquor suspended solids —TMLSS—, NO3-N and NH4-N) results in global WWTP operation that is more autonomous, more robust in terms of process disturbances and, equally important, more sustainable in the sense that reduced water emissions (i.e., lower levels of pollutants in the treated water) and reduced CO2 emissions (by lowering the energy consumption) are achieved.

  2. By taking advantage of the Add-Control simulation software, the settings of the art-ICA controllers will be optimally tunned considering the requirements specified for each plant. Unlike other existing control products that leave the selection of the control settings in the users’ hands, the art-ICA controllers follows a different approach, where the Add-Control simulation software is used to simulate the entire process before and during the implementation of the art-ICA controllers.


    It allows the expected performance improvement for any specific WWTP to be estimated via offline simulations. This not only minimizes risks when installing the art-ICA controllers in real plants, but it also provides a lot of flexibility in that it makes the art-ICA controllers easily adaptable to any specific requirements and/or constraints in local legislation. For instance, while the effluent requirements are usually specified in terms of daily average values, some countries however also impose limits on the instantaneous values. Each of these requirements involves completely different control settings whose values are a priori unknown, and therefore they must be adjusted with some kind of procedure/technique.


  3. By implementing user-friendly software with plant performance monitoring functions and data analysis techniques ready for detailed analysis of the biological process. Moreover, this software has recently been complemented with cloud-based plant performance monitoring, allowing MSI-Grupo to remotely maintain, update, optimize and compare different plants where the art-ICA controllers have been installed. The above gives customers the option of purchasing the art-ICA controllers either as a product or as a service, which in terms of price means to have the flexibility to accommodate the specific needs of customers.