Modeling BOD removal in constructed wetlands with mixing cell method

A new concept, transport detention time, is proposed in this paper to describe solute-transport processes. Using this concept, a new mathematical model was developed to describe biochemical oxygen demand removal in constructed wetlands. By treating a constructed wetland as a series of continuous stir tank reactors, an nth-order ordinary differential equation was derived based on the principle of mass balance and convective-dispersive equation and by introducing transfer function and Laplace transform. The number of continuous stir tank reactors of a particular wetland was determined by the parameters, such as dispersion coefficient and flow velocity, occurring in the wetland. Two examples were presented to illustrate the applications of the model. Moment method and a combination of moment and optimization methods were used to estimate the model parameters from tracer experiment data. A comparison between the model presented in this paper and the currently used plug-flow-constructed wetland model indicated that the former was more accurate. Additionally, this model can be applied to transient conditions, is theoretically sound, and represents a theoretical advance in constructed wetland research.