Investigation on Fluidized Bed Bioreactor Treating Ice Cream Wastewater Using Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Network

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a comparative approach was developed between response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) in the predictive capabilities for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) from ice cream industry wastewater using fluidized bed bioreactor. The effects of process variables such as pH, temperature, flow rate and agitation speed investigated using a four-factor three-level Box–Behnken experimental design (BBD). Same design was utilized to train a feed-forward multilayered perceptron (MLP) ANN with back-propagation algorithm. The predictive capabilities of the two methodologies were compared in terms of statistical parameters including coefficient of determination (R2). The results showed that properly trained ANN model is more accurate in prediction as compared to RSM model. Under the optimum conditions (pH of 7, temperature of 40°C, flow rate of 20 ml/min and agitation speed of 175 rpm), 91% of COD was removed.