Expert System for Technology Screening for SOC and VOC Contaminated Water

Abstract

A prototype expert system program was developed to select the best available technology used for the removal of volatile organic chemicals and synthetic organic chemicals from contaminated water. The technologies considered in this study are packed tower air stripping (AST) with and without off-gas control using gas phase granular activated carbon (GPGAC) adsorption, liquid phase granular activated carbon (LPGAC) adsorption, and their combinations. Selecting from these processes is a complex procedure because of the uncertainties associated with the process-specific feasibility parameters such as pretreatment conditions, capacity to handle variable flow and shock loading, nature of treatment goal (long term or short term), nature of regeneration facility (for LPGAC and GPGAC), and air pollution (for AST). This expert system simplifies the complex selection procedure by sifting through both least-cost design knowledge and process feasibility knowledge. The system is thus able to predict the suitability of a treatment technology based on factors other than least cost and offers this advantage over other process selection tools. The system was applied to three case studies, and the best treatment technology in each study was identified based on the given parameters.