Optimized pump scheduling in water distribution systems

Abstract

A method based on nonlinear programming for determining the optimal operation of general water distribution systems containing multiple sources and reservoirs is presented. The problem is formulated and solved so that, given the forecasted demands for the coming 24 hours, the initial and final conditions in the reservoirs, the unit and maximum demand electricity charge, and the constraints in the hydraulic properties of all system components, an optimized pumping schedule is found. An optimization algorithm which employs the generalized reduced gradient method and the nonlinear sensitivity analysis has been developed for a basic scheduling problem in which only unit charges are considered. The maximum demand charge, which is weighted by varying degrees from day to day, is incorporated into the scheduling problem. The algorithm uses a feasible initial solution as the starting solution and iterates so that all the interim solutions are feasible.