Details

The volumetric flow rate entering and leaving the reactor is the sum of the influent and recycle flow rates:

.

The recycle ratio is defined by:

.

Then:

.

The reactor residence time is defined as the volume of the reactor divided by the volumetric influent flow rate:

.

The concentration factor is defined as the ratio of the recycle biomass to effluent biomass concentrations:

.

Notation:

: biomass concentration in reactor (),

: substrate concentration (),

: sludge concentration factor (dimensionless),

: recycle ratio (dimensionless).

The model is described in detail in [1, Exercise 3.3.2].

Suggestions for further exploration:

1. Vary the recycle ratio to see how the performance of the process is influenced.

2. Vary the values of the flow rate to see how the process is influenced.

Reference

[1] J. B. Snape, I. J. Dunn, J. Ingham and J. E. Prenosil, Dynamics of Environmental Bioprocesses: Modelling and Simulation, New York: VCH, 1995.