Optimal Operation of Soil Aquifer Treatment Systems Considering Parameter Uncertainty

This paper presents a new methodology for determining optimal operation of soil aquifer treatment (SAT) systems considering parameter uncertainty. The problem of optimal operation of SAT systems is formulated and solved in a discrete-time optimal control framework by interfacing the SALQR (<Emphasis Type="Bold">Successive <Emphasis Type="Bold">Approximation <Emphasis Type="Bold">Linear <Emphasis Type="Bold">Quadratic <Emphasis Type="Bold">Regulator) optimizer with the MSTS (<Emphasis Type="Bold">Multiphase <Emphasis Type="Bold">Subsurface <Emphasis Type="Bold">Transport <Emphasis Type="Bold">Simulator) model. Both deterministic and stochastic programming formulations have been solved. Through the use of first-order analysis of uncertainties, the uncertainty of the water content due to the uncertainties of the simulation parameters are evaluated. A chance constrained formulation of the optimization is utilized to account for the uncertainties of water content in the SAT operation. This approach enables one to quantify the uncertainty of the parameter estimates, and automatically account for the parameter uncertainty in the decision-making process through the SAT management model. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001