Minimizing combined sewer overflows in real-time control applications

An approach to design and operate real-time control system for combined sewer overflows is proposed. The methodology is based on nonlinear programming with the peculiarity that all the constraints are linear. The problem definition guarantees a non-null optimization space while preserving the physical and dynamical constraints of the state variables. The nonlinear cost function allows standard control objectives to be met and simulation of the behavior associated with storage facilities and actuators. The linear flow dynamic constraints are defined to simulate flow attenuation as well as to reject unknown disturbances.