Liquid Conduit Pressure Control for Leakage and Asset Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pressure control methods in water distribution networks lead to significant pressure variations, reducing the reliability and life expectancy of high-consequence assets and introducing redundancy issues, which negatively affect system resilience and water quality.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method that uses Pareto efficient solutions to control actuator valves in liquid conduit systems, optimizing both average zone pressure and pressure variability through the simultaneous minimization of these variables, allowing for co-design optimization of actuator placement and pressure settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If current pressure control methods are used to minimize average zone pressure, then leakage is reduced, but pressure variations increase causing asset deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the control parameters from simple average pressure minimization to a multi-parameter optimization that includes both average pressure and pressure variability. By minimizing the sum of average zone pressure and pressure variability metrics, the system achieves leakage reduction while preventing asset deterioration from excessive pressure fluctuations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control by continuously monitoring pressure measurements from multiple sources (SCADA, smart meters, data loggers) and using this information to adjust control valve positions. The optimization algorithm uses measured pressure data to calculate control actions that minimize both average pressure and pressure variability, creating a closed-loop control system.
2Loss of substance
If sectorization with kept-shut valves is implemented, then leakage management improves, but system resilience decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention transitions from static kept-shut valve configurations to dynamic control valve positioning. Control valves can be adjusted in real-time based on optimization algorithms that consider both leakage reduction and resilience requirements. The system dynamically reconfigures pressure zones and valve positions to maintain supply reliability while managing leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The optimization system serves multiple functions simultaneously: it minimizes leakage, maintains asset reliability, preserves system resilience, and optimizes energy consumption. The same control framework achieves these diverse objectives by coordinating multiple control valves across different zones rather than using isolated kept-shut valve sectors.
3Stress or pressure
If control valves are used to achieve desired average zone pressures, then pressure management improves, but intra-zone and inter-zone pressure variations increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the network into multiple controllable zones with separate control valves, allowing independent optimization of each zone. By dividing the network into smaller manageable segments rather than using a single control valve for the entire zone, the system can maintain more uniform pressure distribution across all areas while achieving desired average pressures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes from controlling only average pressure to simultaneously controlling average pressure and pressure variability parameters. The optimization algorithm minimizes a composite objective function that includes both average zone pressure and metrics for pressure stability, ensuring that pressure variations within and between zones are reduced alongside average pressure management.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for controlling conditions within a liquid conduit system. The method comprising: defining a zone within the liquid conduit system, wherein pressure within the zone is influenced by one or more actuator valves; controlling the one or more actuator valves in dependence on a Pareto efficient solution to the minimisation of functions of the average pressure within the zone (AZP) and the pressure variability within the zone (PVZ).