A Comprehensive Model Calibration Procedure for Asm1

A systematic model calibration procedure for the Activated Sludge Model No. 1 (ASM1) was presented and evaluated on a combined municipal-industrial WWTP. A careful definition of the purpose of the model determines how to approach the model calibration. It was illustrated how additional information obtained from tests specifically designed to describe the hydraulics and the biology of the system help to decide on realistic values for the model parameters. The aim of the illustrative case study was to obtain a good description of the N removal capacity, since the model was to be applied for process optimisation in a later stage. Two of the most important parameters to calibrate were the maximum specific growth rates of heterotrophs and nitrifiers. It was found that additional information on the specific growth rates derived from respirometric lab-experiments can be very important to confirm that the calibrated parameters of the full-scale model are realistic.