SIMULATING AND OPTIMIZING THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF PRESSURE REDUCING VALVES TO TRANSIENTS IN WATER DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

Abstract

Pressure reducing valve (PRV) used in water networks to control the pressure at its downstream. This research aimed to improve the PRVs dynamic response by analyzing the interaction between water network and PRV response during transients. TRANSNET II is a FORTRAN code that is developed to calculate velocity, inlet pressure, outlet pressure, and opening for the PRV during transient, this numerical model interfaced with the Shuffled Complex Evolution (SCE) to optimize the rate of PRV opening and closure. Proportional-Integration-Derivative (PID) controller was used with the PRV instead of hydraulic controller to improve its dynamic response. TRANSNET II and SCE were used to determine optimal PID parameters. To improve the dynamic response of PRV with PID controller, the research presented two methods; the first one is using remote sensors at locations of transient events, the second method is optimizing the sampling time of PRV with PID controller.