Biological Sigma Delta Modulator
Sigma Delta Modulation, biological sigma delta modulation, activated sludge, oxygen uptake rate, dissolved oxygen.
The activated sludge system is a wastewater treatment method, capable of removing water pollutants using aerobic bacteria metabolism. The oxygen uptake rate (OUR) provides the detection of toxic elements, being an important parameter to the evaluation and monitoring of the activated sludge system. Ordinarily, the OUR measurement is performed by the classical method; however, this methodology has some limitations related its dynamic response. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to propose a new methodology to measure the activated sludge system’s OUR, based on the sigma delta modulation which will be called biological sigma delta modulation. Expecting a greater noise immunity and a high resolution in OUR measurement, the functions of the conventional sigma delta modulation will be performed by the activated sludge system structure in the biological domain. The proposed modulator performance evaluation will be verified by simulations using matlab/simulink software, comparing its results with the classic OUR measurement.