FLOWS is a recently developed ICES subsystem for applications in the field of hydraulic engineering. It is able to compute steady as well as unsteady flows in hydraulic networks of given dimensions.
This means that is does not optimize any parameters describing the network. The network may be composed of open and closed channels, reservoirs and flow control devices such as pumps, weirs etc.
This covers water supply networks, estuaries, river and canal networks etc.
Besides this, FLOWS computes the transport of pollutant in a hydraulic network. The method is restricted to such problems where the concentration is nearly uniform over the cross-section and where density differences have a negligible effect on the flow. Possible applications
are cooling water circuits, salt intrusion etc. Some experience with respect to the flow computations 1S reported. Appendices give details about the numerical approximation and its accuracy, and about the use of the subsystem.