Pressure Management Model for Urban Water Distribution Networks

A technique for leakage reduction is pressure management, which considers the direct relationship between leakage and pressure. To control the hydraulic pressure in a water distribution system, water levels in the storage tanks should be maintained as much as the variations in the water demand allows. The problem is bounded by minimum and maximum allowable pressure at the demand nodes. In this study, a Genetic Algorithm (GA) based optimization model is used to develop the optimal hourly water level variations in a storage tank in different seasons in order to minimize the leakage level. Resiliency and failure indices of the system have been considered as constraints in the optimization model to achieve the minimum required performance. In the proposed model, the results of a water distribution simulation model are used to train an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model. Outputs of the ANN model as a hydraulic pressure function is then linked to a GA based optimization model to simulate hydraulic pressure and leakage at each node of the water distribution network based on the water level in the storage tank, water consumption and elevation of each node. The proposed model is applied for pressure management of a major pressure zone with an integrated storage facility in the northwest part of Tehran Metropolitan area. The results show that network leakage can be reduced more than 30% during a year when tank water level is optimized by the proposed model.     

Optimal Location and Setting of PRVs in WDS for Leakage Minimization

Water loss is an issue that affect Water Distribution Systems (WDSs) very often, especially when aged and high pressure occurs. Pressure reduction valves (PRVs) can be used as devices to reduce as much as possible the water losses within the network. Indeed, for a given number of PRVs, the daily volume of water lost from the network can be reduced minimizing the pressure through a proper choice of valve positions as well as their settings. In this paper, a methodology for the optimal number, positioning and setting of PRVs is presented. In the proposed methodology, a genetic algorithm is coupled with a physical modelling of leakage from joints and a simplified and yet realistic hydraulic simulation of the WDS. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using two WDSs examples. Comparisons with a more extreme and complicated hydraulic modelling, already proposed by authors in previous work, are also performed in the first case study in order to validate the proposed methodology. These comparisons demonstrate that the methodology proposed in this work performs fairly well when compared to similar approach that uses a more sophisticated hydraulic model. As a consequence, it revealed to be a good tool for the optimal positioning and sizing of PRVs within WDS aimed at reducing the background leakages even when the WDS is characterized by complex geometry and topology.     

管网故障水力瞬变检测实验系统研发

为克服传统管网故障检测系统模型校验误差较大及基于恒定流模型检测的不足,尝试基于瞬变流模型方法设计开发一种能够兼顾模拟泄漏孔、局部阻塞在内的管网实验平台系统,用于水力建模的校验测试和故障检测,并提出相应故障辨识方法。该平台包括常规供水水箱、简单管网、实验控制系统、变速泵、管网故障模拟装置、低强度瞬变流激发器等,以RSView组态软件为基础研发了管网故障水力检测实验平台的SCADA系统,实现水位、流量、压力和阀门激励动作等计算机自动控制以及实时监测和采集。其中新的可控式低强度瞬变流激发器可取代传统阀门,能够产生阀门关闭激发瞬变水击波的类似效果,克服了传统管道试验平台末端关阀造成的水锤压力波动过大和不易控制的缺点。该实验平台拓展了管网实验室故障控制模拟和检测的思路,为支撑和推广实用化的智慧供水管网及故障检测技术研究提供了手段。     

Modularity-Based Procedure for Partitioning Water Distribution Systems into Independent Districts

A proper division of a Water Distribution System (WDS) into District Metered Areas (DMAs) provides important management benefits particularly with regard to leakage detection through water balances, control and optimization of pressure so as to reduce leakage, implementation of monitoring, warning and emergency acting systems against accidental or intentional water contamination. This paper presents a new methodology that combines a suitable modularity-based algorithm for the automated creation of DMA boundaries and convincing practical criteria for the DMA design. A further plus of the proposed methodology is its ability to identify many technically feasible solutions that can be subsequently economically assessed. The successful applications of the proposed methodology to a real case study, already tested by other authors, has proven its effectiveness for the DMA design in existing water distribution systems.     

Pressure Management in Water Distribution Systems Using a Self-Tuning Controller to Distribute the Available Potable Water with Equality

The rapid population growth of cities in developing countries (DC) make difficult to distribute the available potable water (PW) with equality. The distribution problem arises from an insufficient amount of PW and because cities water distribution systems (WDS) are not efficient. The novelty of this paper is a self-tuning controller (STC) proposed to manage, along the day, the pressure of water through the nodes of a WDS. It means, pressure management (PM) is proposed to control water levels (WLs) in householders tanks (HTs). The objective is to satisfy with equality the PW demand at different zones of a city forcing the flow of water by managing the pressure. The proposed STC performance is tested on the digital simulator developed to characterize the hydraulic operation of a WDS. The dynamic behaviour of the WDS is determined by the variation of the WL in the tanks of the WDS when water is supplied or extracted from them. The WDS of Mexico City is analysed and the proposed STC is applied to a simplified WDS. The results allow to conclude that the proposed STC could become a supporting tool for the decision making of WDS operators.     

Design of a Control System Using an Artificial Neural Network to Optimize the Energy Efficiency of Water Distribution Systems

Sustainable management of water supply systems is a major challenge within the framework of the water-energy nexus. The main strategies to improve the operation of these systems are related to increasing the hydraulic and energy efficiency of pumping systems. In this context, this work presents a new artificial neural network (ANN) controller to improve the operation of water distribution systems (WDSs) that includes in its algorithm the specific energy consumption (SEC) as a decision parameter. Therefore, pressure control at the measuring points is also based on the energy efficiency of the pumps. The technique was applied to control the pressures in an experimental setup that emulates a WDS with two consumption zones with different topographies. For this purpose, the controller acted on a conventional pump, a booster pump and a control valve. To analyze the performance under the controller action, tests were performed emulating water-demand scenarios, introducing perturbations and changing the pressure setpoints. The real-time control performance was proven based on the dynamic performance, steady-state performance and SEC. The experimental results showed that the proposed controller kept the pressures close to the setpoints and provided a reduction in the SEC between 15.1% and 17.8%, compared with the uncontrolled system, and an economy that varied from 2.5% to 8.1% compared with the performance of the ANN based only on pressure control.

     

Introducing a Novel Flexible Conjunction System to Pressure Control in Water Distribution Networks

Pressure management is one of the most significant water demand management methods to reduce leakage in water distribution networks. Leak as an adverse event is directly related to the pressure. Therefore, reducing extra network pressure decreases leakage in water distribution networks. The pressure reducing valves have some disadvantage. For example, they break down quickly. Therefore, in this study, a novel system named Pressure Reducing Flexible Storage (PRFS) was introduced that hasn’t these disadvantages and it could consider a good alternative for pressure reducing valves in water distribution networks. In this system, a spherical tank containing a flexible rubber cover was installed at the network node. By increasing the pressure in the conjunction, the foam was compressed and reduced the pressure. In this study, the presented system was simultaneously modeled by using Flow-3D and ABAQUS softwares, and pressure decrement was estimated in the conjunction. The results show that the proposed system can decrease the pressure in the conjunctions of water distribution network by about 18%. Therefore, it could be considered as a good alternative for pressure reducing valves in water distribution networks.     

气垫调压室与减压阀联合防护下的减压阀优化

以刚性水锤的状态空间法和弹性水锤的特征线方法为理论基础,针对气垫调压室与减压阀联合防护下减压阀对气垫调压室和机组参数的影响问题开展数值模拟。以某运行中的水电站为例,对其输水系统中不同减压阀的参数实施相关优化,在对优化结果进行分析、研究的基础上,通过总结得出了减压阀阀径的选取原则,即阀径不宜过大,也不宜过小;最优减压阀直径应当能保证机组导叶在关闭时产生的蜗壳末端最大压力近似地等于减压阀在关阀时所产生的阀前最大压力。运行实践表明,机组关阀的时间应当能在降低压力的同时又能够保证关闭时间不能太长,以免造成水资源的浪费。     

Development of Multiple Leakage Detection Method for a Reservoir Pipeline Valve System

The detection of multiple leakages in pipeline systems has been one of the challenging issues for the control of water loss in water distribution systems. Inverse transient analysis can be a useful principle for predicting leakage through the calibration of location and leakage quantity, based on the pressure reflection that originates from an abnormal boundary condition. In this study, an innovative leakage detection method is proposed to address unknown conditions on multiple leakage dimensions through introduction of revised leakage expressions based on a frequency domain approximation. A multiple leakage function was modified for an efficient representation of multiple abnormalities at a reservoir pipeline valve system. An iterative metaheuristic scheme (IMS) was designed to handle an optimization scheme for multiple leakages using a pressure response for a discharge impulse introduced through value manipulation. In order to address unsteady friction in hydraulic transients combined with multiple leakages, both one-dimensional and two-dimensional models were used to derive leakage expressions for turbulent and laminar flow conditions. An isolated multiple leakage function (IMLF) was proposed to exclusively encapsulate the impact of leakages and unsteady fiction. Considering uncertainties in the hydraulic transient propagation, data noise, and multiple local optima issues in large parameter calibrations, three advanced schemes were modularized to improve detectability of IMS. Several hypothetical examples were presented to show the potential of IMS, validity of three advanced schemes, and robustness in multiple leakage prediction compared to existing approaches.     

小浪底工程防渗措施与评价

小浪底工程下闸蓄水后部分排水洞出现了渗漏水现象，建设单位对此采取了一系列综合防渗措施。结合渗漏水观测资料分析认为，这些综合防渗措施在库水位240m以下时是有效的；在排水量较大的排水孔孔口安装控制阀门并安装压力表以观测孔内水压力的变化对减少排水洞内渗水量也是一种有益尝试。同时，结合渗水变化情况，对左岸以厂房安全为中心的防渗处理提出合理化建议。     

破舱油船水下油品泄漏过程的舱压效应研究

该文采用VOF模型和标准k-?湍流模型来实现负压条件下破舱油船水下油品泄漏,并用缩尺模型试验进行验证。通过对油品泄漏入海量及泄漏速度等泄漏特征参数的分析,获得舱压在泄漏动力中的作用及舱压在油品泄漏过程不同阶段的作用机理。研究表明:舱压在油品泄漏动力中的作用主要表现在受阻泄漏阶段,而自由泄漏阶段中油品重力的动力作用明显;舱压对油品的泄漏入海量影响较大,对压载舱内进水量及油品积累量影响小;在受阻泄漏阶段,舱压越小,油品泄漏入海率及压载舱内油品积累率越小,而进水率越大。     

控制输水管道瞬态液柱分离的空气阀调压室

本文提出了控制输水管道瞬态液柱分离的新型空气阀调压室，就是在输水线路上设置短管形成局部凸起点，短管顶部密封，然后在它顶部设置空气阀。在正常输水时，空气阀关闭，调压室（短管）充满水体，没有气体。当调压室顶部水压下降到大气压以下时，空气阀进气，在调压室中形成气囊，防止输水管道发生液体汽化现象，或者超过管道承受能力的高度真空压力。当调压室底部水压超过大气压时，调压室中气体压缩，气体由空气阀缓慢排出，避免发生较大冲击水压。     

长距离重力流输水工程分级减压设计优化与水锤防护分析

乌兹别克斯坦某城市供水工程中重力流输水段原设计管道耐压等级偏低,需设置减压消能设施。经减压方案对比分析,一级减压方案投资明显高于二级减压方案。采用KYPipe2010计算软件分析稳态计算结果表明,在小流量和极端工况下,减压阀后的减压比达到3.85,阀后会产生较大的气蚀。为此,采取在每级减压阀(DN600)处并联一台小口径的多喷孔减压阀(DN400)。在发生小流量和极端工况时,仅开启DN400多喷孔减压阀消能,以减小汽蚀的危害。关阀水锤分析表明,末端关阀时间选择300 s匀速关闭较为合适,沿线应设置5台超压泄压阀,以防止水锤发生。     

Sensor Partitioning Placements via Random Walk and Water Quality and Leakage Detection Models within Water Distribution Systems

A novel sensor partitioning placement model is presented to evenly distribute sensors to water distribution systems (WDS) for monitoring leakages and contamination. First, random walk community detection (RWCD) is used to divide WDS into different partitions. Then, an extended period leakage detection (EPLD) model is presented. The total leakage detection and the average time of leakage detection are used as objective functions for pressure sensor placement. Next, the extended period water quality detection (EPWQD) model is presented. The total intrusion detection, the average percentage of clean water, and the average time of water quality detection are used as objective functions for water quality sensor placement. Evolutionary algorithm (EA) modules are applied to optimize the locations of pressure and water quality sensors. Seven networks are employed to verify the practicability of the model. The results show that leakage and intrusion detection rate is up to 85% during 24 h, and the average percentage of clean water is up to 0.9 in these cases. Finally, the model compares the leakage zone identification (LZI) and the water quality sensor placement strategy (WQSPS) models. The total detection number, the total average time of detection, and the total average percentage of clean water have been improved. Therefore, this model is a high-potential way of sensor placement.

Graphical Abstract

     

Optimal Pressure Regulation in Water Distribution Systems Based on an Extended Model for Pressure Reducing Valves

Optimal pressure regulation to reduce water losses in water distribution systems (WDSs) becomes an important concern due to the increasing water demand and the threat of drought in many areas of the world. The leakage amount in a WDS depends heavily on its operating pressure and thus can be minimized by implementing optimal pressure strategies through pressure reducing valves (PRVs). To achieve this, a model-based optimization is necessary, where an accurate model of the PRVs is required. The PRV models having been used until now for pressure regulations are two-mode models which cannot circumstantiate many situations occurring in WDSs. In this paper, we extend the existing model by a three-mode one for PRVs which is able to describe the required circumstances of pressure regulations in WDSs. The non-smoothness of this model is smoothed by an approximation approach, thus allowing the formulation and solution of a continuous nonlinear optimization problem for optimal pressure regulation. Two benchmark WDSs are used to verify our approach and it can be shown from the results that our PRV model outperforms the existing models in terms of the quality and accuracy of the optimal solutions.

     

Water Saving and Energy Reduction through Pressure Management in Urban Water Distribution Networks

Water shortages and climate change are worldwide issues. Reduction in water leakage in distribution networks as well as the associated energy saving and environmental impacts have recently received increased attention by scientists and water industries. Pressure management has been proposed as a cost-effective approach for reduction in water leakage. This study conducted a real-world water pressure regulation experiment to establish the pressure-leakage relationship in a district metering area (DMA) of the water distribution network in Beijing, China. Results showed that flow into the DMA was sensitive to inlet water pressure. A 5.6 m reduction in inlet pressure (from 38.8 m to 33.2 m) led to an 83 % reduction (12.1 l/s) in minimal night flow, which is a good approximator of leakage. These reductions resulted in 62,633 m³ of water saved every year for every km pipe, as well as associated savings of 1.1?×?10⁶ MJ of energy and 68 t of CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. The results of this study provide decision makers with advice for reducing leakage in water distribution networks with associated energy and environmental benefits.     

Regional scale analysis for the design of storage tanks for domestic rainwater harvesting systems

A regional scale analysis for the design of storage tanks for domestic rain water harvesting systems is presented. The analysis is based on the daily water balance simulation of the storage tank by the yield-after-spillage algorithm as tank release rule. Water balances are applied to 17 rainfall gauging stations in Sicily (Italy). Compared with literature existing methods, a novel dimensionless parameter is proposed to better describe the intra-annual character of the rainfall patterns. As a result, easy-to-use regional regressive models to evaluate the water saving performance and the overflow discharges from the tank are provided along with a stepwise procedure for practical application. The regional models demonstrate good fits between model predictions and simulated values of both water savings and overflows from the tank.     

Investigating Energy Flow in Water-Energy Storage for Hydropower Generation in Water Distribution Systems

Quantifying excess energy using an energy balance model is the key to designing and operating an energy-efficient water distribution system (WDS). Excess energy, which can be recovered instantly or stored in a water-energy storage is the basis to estimate hydropower potential in the system. For a given WDS with its demand, how the excess energy can be managed efficiently to design a water-energy storage to maximize hydropower generation is the focus of this paper. A single-objective optimization model has been developed to optimize the dimensions for up to six water-energy storages for maximizing hydropower generation while minimizing the pumping energy. While the ratio of total energy recovered to total pumping energy is found to be about 40% for all water-energy configurations, the recovered specific energy ranges from 0.116 kWh/m³ to 0.121 kWh/m³ showing the potential use of WDS as an energy storage. Results show that hydropower generation increases with the increase of number of storages up to a certain number representing the constraints of constant drinking water demand and storage dimensions. In-pipe turbines with pump operation for minimizing pumping energy can offer the optimal solution for WDS energy management. A higher number of storages with in-pipe turbines offers uniformity in pressure distribution resulting increase in system robustness.

     

基于SWMM和层次分析法的调蓄池预选址方案选择

近年来频发的内涝给城市排水防涝带来严重挑战。调蓄池是城市内涝防治系统的重要组成部分,而调蓄池预选址的选择,关系到调蓄池的效益和成本,也影响后续优化求解。为合理选择调蓄池的潜在位置,根据内涝防治标准,基于SWMM模型,选取积水深度、积水范围、积水时间、调蓄池造价、节点重要性等5项指标,借助层次分析法,建立了量化评价框架,探讨了基于预选址指数的雨水系统调蓄池预选址方案的选择方法,并进行了应用案例验证,研究表明:调蓄池的位置选择对内涝积水削减比例有重要影响;所提出的方法有一定的可行性和实用性,借助该方法可以得到较好的预选址方案。本研究成果可为城市内涝防治调蓄池选址工作提供技术支撑。     

供水管道压力调控对漏水量影响的试验研究

在某城市供水管网中,以消火栓模拟管道漏水点,利用减压阀在供水高压区进行管道压力调控,分析不同管径的管道压力变化对漏水量的影响,以及不同减压区间的漏水率降低效果。试验结果表明,压力管理是一种行之有效的漏损主动控制方法,利用减压方式供水在优化管网运行条件的同时,可以有效地减少管网漏水量;漏水量与管道压力呈指数规律变化,该指数随减压阀所安装管道的直径不同而异;降压减漏效果对相同管径的管道在高压区更有效,而对基本相同的压力降压范围,管径越大效果越明显。实际操作中采用何种减压方式及降压范围和管段须结合管网具体情况优化选择。