Apply now for Adaptive Control Frameworks Project

Deadline: 26-Oct-26

The Water Research Foundation (WRF) is offering a research grant to advance adaptive control frameworks for biological nutrient removal (BNR) in wastewater treatment utilities. The project will examine why existing aeration and process control strategies may fail under real-world operating conditions and develop practical frameworks that utilities can use to improve BNR performance without relying on proprietary tools or specialised data science expertise.

About the Adaptive BNR Control Research Grant

Wastewater utilities often invest in capital-intensive solutions when biological nutrient removal systems do not achieve expected performance. However, some BNR challenges may result not from limitations in biological capacity but from difficulties in executing effective process control. Wastewater treatment conditions can change significantly over time. Factors such as influent flow, temperature, wastewater strength, pH, and alkalinity can affect biological processes and contribute to inconsistent BNR performance. Previous research has improved understanding of BNR process fundamentals, but a significant gap remains in understanding why adaptive control strategies fail in full-scale utility operations and how control frameworks can be designed to remain effective under variable conditions. How Much Funding Is Available? Applicants may request up to $300,000 in WRF funds for the project. Applicants must also contribute additional resources equivalent to at least 33% of the project award. The required contribution may be provided through: - Cost share. - Applicant in-kind contributions. - Third-party in-kind contributions. Applicants should incorporate the required contribution into their proposed project budget and research plan. Project Duration The anticipated period of performance is 24 months from the contract start date. The proposed research should provide a realistic schedule for identifying control failure modes, evaluating utility data and instrumentation needs, benchmarking facilities, developing adaptive control frameworks, and producing practical guidance. Purpose of the Research The project aims to improve understanding of adaptive control implementation in full-scale wastewater treatment facilities.

The research will focus on:

- Identifying dominant failure modes in current aeration and process control systems. - Categorising the causes of control failures. - Developing guidance on data and instrumentation requirements. - Creating practical adaptive control frameworks. - Reducing reliance on proprietary technologies. - Reducing the need for specialised data science expertise. - Comparing control performance with biological capacity. - Quantifying differences between achievable and realised BNR performance. The overall goal is to help utilities make better use of existing biological treatment capacity through more effective control strategies. Challenges Affecting BNR Performance BNR performance can be affected by changing wastewater characteristics and operating conditions.

Important factors include:

- Influent flow. - Wastewater temperature. - Wastewater strength. - pH. - Alkalinity. - Other variable influent conditions. - Aeration control. - Process control implementation. These variables can make it difficult for a fixed or poorly adapted control strategy to maintain optimal performance. Understanding Control Failure Modes One of the central objectives of the project is to identify and categorise the dominant failure modes associated with current aeration and process control implementations. The research should examine why adaptive control strategies may not perform as expected under full-scale operating conditions. Understanding these failure modes can help utilities: - Identify weaknesses in existing control systems. - Improve control execution. - Determine when control strategies are likely to fail. - Develop more robust approaches. - Better respond to changing influent conditions. Data and Instrumentation Requirements Effective adaptive control depends on having appropriate data and instrumentation. The project will develop guidance to help utilities understand what information and monitoring capabilities are required to support adaptive BNR control. The research will consider how utilities can use available information to: - Monitor changing treatment conditions. - Identify process changes. - Support control decisions. - Evaluate BNR performance. - Improve adaptive control implementation. The guidance is intended to be practical and relevant to utilities with different levels of technical and monitoring capabilities. Development of Practical Adaptive Control Frameworks The project will develop adaptive control frameworks that can be applied in real-world wastewater treatment environments.

The frameworks should not depend on:

- Proprietary tools. - Specialised commercial platforms. - Highly specialised data science expertise. Instead, the research will focus on practical approaches that wastewater utilities can understand, implement, and adapt to their own operating conditions. Benchmarking Full-Scale Facilities The research will benchmark control performance across multiple full-scale wastewater treatment facilities. This benchmarking will compare control performance with indicators of biological capacity. The comparison will help researchers quantify the difference between: - What BNR systems are biologically capable of achieving. - What treatment facilities actually achieve under current control conditions. Understanding this gap can help utilities identify opportunities to improve performance without immediately relying on capital-intensive infrastructure solutions. Biological Capacity and Control Performance A key aspect of the project is distinguishing biological limitations from control limitations. A treatment process may have sufficient biological capacity to achieve desired nutrient removal but fail to realise that capacity because of ineff