Pump Control via Pressure Loss Models for Water Mains
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Solution Overview
Problem
Maintaining a desired minimum pressure in water supply mains while minimizing energy consumption is challenging due to fluctuating water consumption throughout the day, especially in branched systems, as existing pump control systems struggle to adapt delivery output effectively across all parts of the network.
Innovation Solution
A pump system with pressure and flow sensors, along with a control device that uses model formation to predict pressure losses in different regions, allowing for adaptive regulation of pump devices to ensure consistent minimum pressure across the network with minimal energy use, by creating models based on pressure measurements and updating them periodically.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If pump delivery output is increased to maintain minimum pressure in all parts of the water supply mains, then pressure stability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The water supply mains are divided into multiple part regions, each monitored by remote pressure sensor units. This segmentation allows the control device to identify which specific regions require pressure maintenance, enabling selective pump operation rather than maintaining pressure uniformly across the entire network, thus reducing energy consumption while ensuring pressure stability where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device uses pressure measurements from remote sensor units to predict future pressure conditions and determines the required pump delivery output in advance. By calculating the necessary pump operation before pressure drops occur, the system can maintain pressure stability proactively while avoiding excessive energy consumption by not over-pumping.
2Measurement precision
If remote pressure sensor units are continuously monitored to maintain pressure in all regions, then pressure control accuracy is improved, but communication requirements and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The control device creates models (A) that represent pressure loss characteristics for different part regions based on pressure measurements from remote sensor units. These models serve as simplified copies of the complex pressure distribution network, allowing the control device to predict pressure conditions and determine pump requirements without continuously processing data from all sensor units, thus maintaining pressure control accuracy while reducing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The models (A) act as intermediaries between the remote pressure sensor units and the control device. Instead of directly communicating with all sensor units continuously, the control device uses the models to translate pressure measurements into predicted pressure conditions and pump requirements, reducing communication requirements while maintaining accurate pressure control.
3Use of energy by moving object
If pump delivery output is reduced to minimize energy consumption, then energy efficiency is improved, but pressure stability in remote regions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The control device calculates the required pump delivery output in advance based on pressure measurements from remote sensor units and the stored models (A). By determining the exact pump requirements before operation, the system can set the pump delivery output to the minimum necessary level to maintain pressure stability in remote regions, optimizing energy efficiency without sacrificing pressure stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses pressure measurements from remote sensor units as feedback to continuously update the control decisions. The control device compares actual pressure conditions with predicted conditions from models (A) and adjusts pump delivery output accordingly, ensuring pressure stability in remote regions while minimizing energy consumption through precise feedback-based control.
Data Source
AI summary
A pump system for a water supply mains has at least one pump device, a pressure detecting sensor at the pressure side of the pump device, a flow detecting sensor of the pump device, several pressure sensor units (D) remote arranged remotely from the pump device in different part regions of the mains, and a pump control device. The control device includes a model formation module designed in each case to produce a model (A) representing pressure loss from the pressure sensor to the position of the respective pressure sensor unit (D), based on several pressure measured values of at least two pressure sensor units (D) for the at least two associated part regions. The control device is designed for regulation of the pump device based on produced models (A), as well as to a corresponding method for regulation of a pump device in a water supply mains.