A visual tool to calculate optimal control strategy for non-identical pumps working in parallel, taking motor and VSD efficiencies into account

Markus I. Sunela, Raido Puust

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A simple graphical tool was developed, that finds the optimal combination of pumps and their rotational speeds for all possible working points for a pump battery. The tool was integrated into EPANET as well as EPA SWMM simulation packages. The tool allows us to analyse and optimize operation non-identical parallel pumps with different minimum and maximum frequencies for all possible working points. Pump characteristics and efficiency curves can be given in tabular format or as analytical functions of flow. Degradation of pump efficiency at lower rotational speed is taken into account, as well as motor and variable speed drive efficiencies at partial loads. The optimal solution provided by the tool was compared to measurements in two case studies. Our case studies showed 6.1-8.5% reduction in energy usage using the optimal parallel pumping control strategy compared to the currently used strategy, where all running pumps have the same frequency.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1115-1122
Number of pages8
JournalWater Science and Technology: Water Supply
Volume15
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015
Externally publishedYes
Publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Case study
  • EPA SWMM
  • EPANET
  • Optimization
  • Parallel pumping
  • Variable speed drive

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Water Science and Technology

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