A Pool of Experts to Evaluate the Evolution of Biological Processes in SBR Plants

In order to minimize the costs and maximize its efficiency, a Sequencing Batch Reactor requires continuous monitoring. The sensors it can be reasonably equipped with provide only indirect information on the state of the chemical reactions taking place in the tank, so the data must be analysed and interpreted. At present, no optimum, completely reliable procedure exists: instead, there exist several criteria which can be applied under different conditions. This paper shows that estimating the confidence in the quality of the response of a criterion can increase the robustness of a criterion. Then, interpreting the responses in terms of possibility distributions, the different answers can be merged, thus obtaining a more reliable overall estimate.