Oxygen Transfer Parameter Estimation

Abstract

Estimating the oxygen transfer rate of an aeration system is one of the more important functions of a process design engineer. Underestimating the oxygen transfer rate of a proposed aeration system results in an overdesigned system which may be energy intensive and expensive to operate. Overestimating the oxygen tranfer rate results in inadequate oxygen transfer and reduced process efficiency. Two nonlinear programing techniques for analyzing nonsteady state aeration test data are presented. Either technique can be used to obtain indentical parameter estimates. Coding is also presented which enables either technique to be implemented using an advanced programmable calculator. Using the techniques presented, nonlinear parameter estimation for nonsteady state reaeration testing can be used in the field.