Application of uncertainty analysis of artificial neural networksfor predicting coagulant and alkalizer dosages in a water treatment process

Abstract

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were built to predict coagulant (Model I) and alkalizer (Model II) dosages given raw and treated water parameters from a water clarifying process. Different ANN architectures were tested and optimal results were obtained with [10-10-10-01] and [08-12-12-01] nodes of input, hidden and output layers for Models I and II, respectively. Two algorithms based on GUM-S1weredevelopedto evaluate the artificial neural network parameter uncertainty and the coverage interval of model outputs. The results show that these algorithms can provide a better set of parameters for the ANN compared with the traditional training method. The present research provides a unique unifying view that considers neural networks and uncertainty analysis in a well-documented industrial case study.