Date of Award:

5-2017

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Computer Science

Committee Chair(s)

Nicholas S. Flann

Committee

Nicholas S. Flann

Committee

Vladimir Kulyukin

Committee

Vicki Allan

Abstract

The global market for biological waste water treatment is large and growing. Bioengineered reactor setups employ microorganisms to degrade waste and produce useful/less harmful components. Scientists are interested in studies that reveal the biological mechanisms involved in the process of these microbial actions in order to improve the reactor performance. The process of granulation in aerobic sludge is one such interesting process which is less explained.

The primary goal of the thesis is to design a computational model that simulates the process of granulation in anaerobic sludge and that addresses the role physiochemical and biological processes play in granule formation. The working model that we have developed has been validated using the existing literature. The model successfully demonstrates granulation in a glucose fed system with formation of 0.5 mm mature granule in 33 days with the production of methane. The simulated granules have the same structure as that of the real world granule images: a central dead core surrounded by living cells (acidogens and methanogens).

The model can also be used by scientists as a tool to find the parameter values that can help in tuning the reactor to maximize productivity. As an application of the tool, we have built a search engine that systematically sweeps the model parameters to find the amount of food supply (glucose) and the ratio of different microbe species in initial feed to the reactor. The model can also be expanded in the future to investigate more complex processes.

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