Influence of Mixing and Reaction Kinetics on the Performance of a Biological Reactor

Abstract

<p> The pulse response of a full scale aeration tank is mathematically modelled with an arbitrary network of idealized perfectly mixed and plug flow component vessels. The model is fitted in the frequency domain, then inverse transformed to the time domain. The soluble carbon concentration curve of batch biokinetic run is modelled by a modified logistics equation and a piecewise linear expression. The mixing and kinetic models are combined to predict the degree of conversion assuming the degree of segregation, J, to be one. The pulse responses of a lab scale tank for varying water flow rates are also modelled by the same methods. An attempt is made to correlate the mathematical model parameters to the water flow rate. </p>