An evaluation of an MBBR anammox model - sensitivity analysis and calibration

Sammanfattning:  This master thesis is about mathematical modelling of the anammox process with a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) for a reject water application. Specifically, the aim of my research was to find out whether the model proposed by Erik Lindblom in (Lindblom et al. 2016) is a good model for this purpose and worth continuous research and optimization. The code for the model, implemented in Matlab/Simulink, was given; although not initially functioning in the given condition. Some modifications needed to be done to make it function properly. In order to confirm that the code was working and used in a correct way some results in (Lindblom et al. 2016) were reproduced. Before starting the evaluation of the model, some much-needed optimizations of the code were done, substantially reducing the run time. A sensitivity analysis was done, and the five most sensitive parameters were picked out to be used in the calibration. The calibration improved the total fit of the model to the available measurements, although one of the model outputs could not be calibrated satisfactorily. In short, I found that although there are still problems left to solve before the model can be stated to accurately model the anammox process with MBBR, it appears promising. Most importantly, more measurement data are needed in order to make a proper validation and to do a better calibration.