Innovative Approach for Selection of Pump as Turbine in Water Distribution Network

While pressure reducing valves (PRVs) have been widely used in water distribution networks (WDNs) to reduce water leakage, research in recent years has focused on the use of turbines instead of PRVs as the means for enabling both pressure reduction and energy production. However, in WDNs daily continuous variability of flow discharge and upstream head make PAT selection a challenging issue. The present paper describes an innovative approach for optimal PAT selection in systems with hydraulic and/or electrical regulation. The methodology was also applied to a district of the Benevento, Italy, WDN, showing the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The findings showed the optimal pumps lie in the vicinity of the maximum of the produced energy. Furthermore, considering weekday pattern instead of long-period pattern gives reliable results only if the PAT system operated with hydraulic regulation.