Optimized control of pressure reducing valves in water distribution networks with dynamic topology

Abstract

A dynamic topology aggregates zones in water distribution networks (WDNs) for improved pressure management and resilience to failure. Based on a sequential convex programming (SCP) approach, we propose an optimization method for the control of pressure reducing valves (PRV) in WDNs with dynamic topology. By restricting the SCP iterations to the feasible search space, we show that reliable convergence of the method is achieved. Using an experimental study in a large operational network, the optimization of PRV settings with a dynamic topology is shown to result in pressure reductions of 3.7% compared to optimized PRVs in a closed DMA structure.