Studying the Performance of Different Ap proaches for PRVs Setting and Improving Reliability in Water Dis tribution Networks

High pressure in water distribution networks leads to various problems such as increased leakage, bursts and unexpected consumptions. Hence, pressure management plans are implemented using pressure reducing valves (PRVs), tanks and pump stations. In this study, PRVs are applied for pressure management in three different approaches; fixed outlet, time modulation and flow modulation. In fixed outlet PRVs, a steady set pressure is considered for each PRV during the day. A simulation-optimization model is developed to find the optimal set pressures for all PRVs. In time modulation approach, PRVs are able to apply different pressure settings at different hours of the day which results the better control of the hourly pressure fluctuations in the water network. In this approach, optimization of set pressures is carried out. In flow modulation PRVs, the set pressure is regulated according to the average pressure in the network. In addition, in this study a new reliability index is introduced considering the average pressure and hourly pressure fluctuations and their effects on consumer’s satisfaction. This index is considered as an optimization objective function. Finally, comparing the performance of the above approaches shows that flow modulation, time modulation and fixed outlet approach are the most reliable, respectively.