Edge-Enabled Digital Twin for Autonomous Low-Latency Dissolved Oxygen Control for Partial Nitritation-Anammox Reactor

Micko Tomas, Zaini Zaini, Zulkarnaini Zulkarnaini, Ardhian Agung Yulianto, Shahrul Ismail

Abstract

Anammox reactors are high-efficiency, energy-saving nitrogen treatment technologies, yet their process stability is highly sensitive to fluctuations in dissolved oxygen (DO). Most wastewater treatment Internet of Things systems remain limited to cloud-based monitoring without low-latency adaptive control or dynamic process representation. This study develops an edge-enabled digital twin for real-time multi-parameter monitoring and closed-loop DO control a partial nitritation-anammox reactor. The system employs an ESP32-S3 as an edge computing node for local acquisition, and monitoring of DO, ORP, pH, water temperature, TDS, room temperature, and humidity, while executing a process model dynamically synchronized with the physical reactor. Field implementation demonstrates stable operation with water temperature of 27.4 ± 0.42 °C, room temperature of 30.8 ± 0.6 °C, relative humidity of 55.2 ± 2.1%, pH of 6.21 ± 0.11, ORP of +295 ± 18 mV, and TDS of 82.6 ± 3.4 ppm. DO was maintained at a setpoint of 0.50 mg/L with ±0.03 mg/L deviation, 0.024 mg/L mean absolute error, 5.2% maximum overshoot, and 20–28 s recovery time. The edge-based control latency of 0.43 s ensures stable aeration regulation independent of cloud connectivity. The novelty lies in integrating a digital twin directly at the edge to enable autonomous DO regulation, enhancing process stability while reducing aeration energy consumption by up to 26% compared with conventional systems.

Keywords

References

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DOI: 10.14416/j.asep.2026.08.002

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