Towards stable and efficient nitrogen removal in wastewater treatment processes via an adaptive neural network based sliding mode controller

•Sliding mode control with neural networks is proposed to solve system uncertainty.•We designed dual-loop denitrification control strategy for nitrogen removal in WWTPs.•The feasibility of the proposed strategy is verified on the BSM2 platform.•The strategy can improve nitrogen removal efficiency with less energy consumption. [Display omitted] Advanced controllers often offer an innovative solution to proper quality control in wastewater treatment processes (WWTPs). However, nonlinearity and uncertain disturbances usually make the conventional control strategies inadequate or impossible for the stable operations of WWTPs. To guarantee the stability of ammonia nitrogen concentration (SNH) control in WWTPs, a direct adaptive neural networks-based sliding mode control (ANNSMC) strategy has been proposed in this article. A sliding mode controller is designed and implemented with the help of an adaptive Neural Network (ANN), named Radial Basis Function Neural Network (RBFNN), which can approach the desired control law accurately. Also, the stability of a system installed with the ANNSMC is analyzed by using the Lyapunov theorem, which ensures system robustness and adaptability. Additionally, to deal with high energy consumption and low treatment efficiency problems in the wastewater denitrification processes, this paper proposes a dual-loop denitrification control strategy and validates it in the Benchmark Simulation Model No.2 (BSM2) platform. The strategy can strengthen the denitrification efficiency by collaborating the SNH with nitrate nitrogen (SNO) concentration in the WWTPs properly. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed strategy can obtain remarkable stability and robustness, reducing energy consumption effectively compared with other standard and advanced control strategies.