Improved Pressurized Pipe Network Hydraulic Solver for Applications in Irrigation Systems

GESTAR is an advanced computational hydraulic software tool specially adapted for the design, planning, and management of pressurized irrigation networks. A summary is given of the most significant characteristics of GESTAR. The hydraulic solver for quasi-steady scenarios uses specific strategies and incorporates several new features that improve the algorithms for pipe network computation, overcoming some of the problems that arise when attempting to apply drinking water software, using the gradient method, to irrigation systems. It is shown that the gradient method is a nodal method variant, where flow rates are relaxed using head loss formula exponents. Although relaxation produces a damping effect on instabilities, it is still unable to solve some of the numerical problems common to the nodal methods. In this contribution the results of the research on computational strategies capable of dealing with low resistance elements, hydrant modelling, multiple regulation valves, numerous emitters, and pumps with complex curves are presented, obtaining accurate results even in conditions where other software fails to converge. GESTAR incorporates all these computational techniques, achieving a high convergence rate and robustness. Furthermore, GESTAR’s solver algorithm was easily adapted to incorporate inverse analysis options for optimum network control and parameter calibration. Illustrative examples are provided, documenting the improved numerical techniques and examples of GESTAR’s performance in comparison with EPANET2, a widely used gradient method-based hydraulic solver.