Optimal Location of PRVs and Turbines in Water Distribution Systems

Pressure reducing valves (PRVs) are often used to manage pressure and reduce losses in water distribution systems (WDS). Different approaches are available in the literature on how to locate and set the PRVs in order to maximize their effectiveness and minimize water losses. The available methodologies minimize the mean square difference between the actual and the target pressure at each node. Since the excess head can be used also to generate hydropower by using turbines and/or pumps as turbines (PATs), a different objective function could be suggested to maximize energy production. Consequently, a comprehensive analysis will be developed in the paper which highlights the differences between the preexisting approach and the suggested one, in terms of device location, pressure reduction, and recoverable energy. Numerical simulations showed that minimizing pressure may also affect the production of energy, while maximizing the energy production itself could be an attractive alternative, leading to higher generation and only a slight increase of the average node pressure.