Comparison of methods for estimating carbonaceous BOD parameters


Uludag-Demirer S., Demirer G., Bowers A.

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY, vol.22, no.8, pp.915-926, 2001 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 22 Issue: 8
  • Publication Date: 2001
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/09593332208618225
  • Journal Name: ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.915-926
  • Keywords: BOD kinetics, carbonaceous BOD, parameter estimation, Monte Carlo simulation
  • Anadolu University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The performance of seven different methods (Differential, Fujimoto, Thomas, Graphical, Integral, Log-Difference, and Nonlinear Regression) for estimating first-stage, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD), curve parameters, namely k and L-0 were compared using synthetic data generated by Monte Carlo simulation technique. The comparison of the methods was made based on their efficiency in retrieving the original values of k and L-0 which were selected to generate the synthetic data. In the first part of the study, five sets of "true" data (without error substitution) with different k and L-0 value pairs, (k (d(-1))-L-0 (mg l(-1)): 0.23-10,000; 0.23-250; 0.23-50; 0.10-250; and 0.50-250) were used to obtain information about the effect of different k-L-0 combinations and of using 5-day and 20-day CBOD data on the performance of the methods. In the second part, the same methods were used to calculate k and L-0 for ten sets of synthetic data with log-normally distributed random errors at the coefficient of variation (COV) levels of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 for a single k-L-0 value pair, (0.23 d(-1); 250 mg l(-1)). The results indicated that: (1) different combinations of k-L-0 values had no significant effect on the performance of CBOD curve parameter estimation methods with the "true" data; (2) use of CBOD20, data, i.e., CBOD data collected for 20 days, provided better estimates fork and L-0; (3) the Integral and Nonlinear Regression techniques were found to be the most reliable methods for the estimation of CBOD curve parameters among the other methods considered in this study.