CPE/CCP

Based on the proven track record and widespread applicability of the CPE/CCP approach, EPA s Office of Research and Development/Center for Environmental Research Information decided in 1988 to fund development of an expert system to incorporate the expertise embodied in the CPE/CCP methodology. This report describes the concept, design, and implementation of this expert system. The system, POTW EXPERT, was beta-tested in September, 1989, and is currently in limited-distribution testing by EPA. 

The CPE/CCP approach to POTW evaluation proceeds in two distinct but linked phases. The Comprehensive Performance Evaluation identifies and prioritizes the design, operational, maintenance, and administrative factors which may be the cause(s) of suboptimal POTW performance. The Composite Correction Program implements procedures (e.g., changes in plant operations, training for plant operators) to address these factors. The CPE and CCP are linked in that implementation of the CCP may feed back to affect the content or order of the prioritized list of factors affecting plant performance. The distinction between CPE and CCP marks a logical problem boundary for an expert system built around the CPE/CCP approach development of POTW EXPERT to date has focused on the Comprehensive Performance Evaluation. 

The objective of the POTW EXPERT development effort is to allow users to rapidly and effectively evaluate the cause(s) of degraded performance at POTWs that fail to meet effluent quality targets. The system achieves this objective by making the proven diagnostic expertise embodied in the CPE/CCP approach available to the community of wastewater treatment regulators and operators responsible for achieving and maintaining POTW effluent quality. 

Amplification of C emission upon excitation of CPE, relative to that upon direct excitation of C is an important advantage of CPE-based FRET sensors, which benefits from the rapid intrachain and interchain energy migration from CPE to C via FRET. The detection sensitivity of CCP-based DNA sensor thus is enhanced to an extent dependent on the signal amplification of C emission. Amplification factor is defined as the intensity ratio of the saturated CCP-sensitized C emission to the intrinsic C emission in the absence of CCP. To acquire large signal amplification, it is necessary to review the factors affecting the FRET process from CCP to C. Equation (1) describes the calculation of FRET rate (KVRi T) [67] ... 

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