Plant-scale biogas production prediction based on multiple hybrid machine learning technique

Abstract

The parameters from full-scale biogas plants are highly nonlinear and imbalanced, resulting in low prediction accuracy when using traditional machine learning algorithms. In this study, a hybrid extreme learning machine (ELM) model was proposed to improve prediction accuracy by solving imbalanced data. The results showed that the best ELM model had a good prediction for validation data (R2 = 0.972), and the model was developed into the software (prediction error of 2.15 %). Furthermore, two parameters within a certain range (feed volume (FV) = 23–45 m3 and total volatile fatty acids of anaerobic digestion (TVFAAD) = 1750–3000 mg/L) were identified as the most important characteristics that positively affected biogas production. This study combines machine learning with data-balancing techniques and optimization algorithms to achieve accurate predictions of plant biogas production at various loads.