TY - JOUR
T1 - Harmonic oscillator tank
T2 - A new method for leakage and energy reduction in a water distribution network with pressure driven demand
AU - Latchoomun, L.
AU - Ah King, R. T. F.
AU - Busawon, Krishna
AU - Ginoux, J. M.
N1 - Funding information: The authors are much indebted to the Central Water Authority of Mauritius for their support in terms of data access, the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council for providing a postgraduate scholarship in the project and the ABB group for supplying laboratory equipment for this research project. Logistics were provided by the University of Mascareignes and the University of Mauritius.
PY - 2020/6/15
Y1 - 2020/6/15
N2 - It is now well established that rate of leakage of water is directly related to the distribution pressure in a network. In this context, pumps can consume up to 60% of the overall energy requirement in the case of pressure driven demand whereby they are solicited for direct supply. In this paper, we investigate the energy efficiency of distribution in an experimental network which is embedded with two levels of leakage (low and high) using three different methods. They are analysed and compared in terms of specific energy consumption and rate of leakage. A novel concept known as the Harmonic Oscillator Tank has been developed whereby the conventional hydropneumatic tank is pressure modulated so as to produce a constant output flowrate within the presence of leaks. Experimental results show that the throughput of the Harmonic Oscillator Tank for a heavy leaking network is highest (86.45%) with the lowest percentage leakage of 13.5% at a specific energy consumption of only 0.354 kWh/m3/day when compared to the other two schemes namely direct pumping and pumping through a variable speed drive in a loop. This Harmonic Oscillator Tank opens up new avenues for reducing energy and leakage in old damaged networks whereby a short or medium-term solution is often required since infrastructure renewal requires time and a massive investment.
AB - It is now well established that rate of leakage of water is directly related to the distribution pressure in a network. In this context, pumps can consume up to 60% of the overall energy requirement in the case of pressure driven demand whereby they are solicited for direct supply. In this paper, we investigate the energy efficiency of distribution in an experimental network which is embedded with two levels of leakage (low and high) using three different methods. They are analysed and compared in terms of specific energy consumption and rate of leakage. A novel concept known as the Harmonic Oscillator Tank has been developed whereby the conventional hydropneumatic tank is pressure modulated so as to produce a constant output flowrate within the presence of leaks. Experimental results show that the throughput of the Harmonic Oscillator Tank for a heavy leaking network is highest (86.45%) with the lowest percentage leakage of 13.5% at a specific energy consumption of only 0.354 kWh/m3/day when compared to the other two schemes namely direct pumping and pumping through a variable speed drive in a loop. This Harmonic Oscillator Tank opens up new avenues for reducing energy and leakage in old damaged networks whereby a short or medium-term solution is often required since infrastructure renewal requires time and a massive investment.
KW - Harmonic oscillator tank
KW - Pipe leakage
KW - Programmable logic controller and variable speed drive
KW - Water distribution network
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083894923&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117657
DO - 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117657
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083894923
SN - 0360-5442
VL - 201
JO - Energy
JF - Energy
M1 - 117657
ER -
