Research Reports from the Department of Operations
Document Type
Report
Publication Date
1-1-1975
Abstract
A water distribution pipeline network is a system that transports water from points of supply to points of demand where water must be delivered at a certain rate and pressure head. The system consists of water supply points, water demand points and pumping stations all connected by pipelines according to some network geometry. In this paper we consider the one-period deterministic design problem of a water distribution pipeline network. The design problem in water networks with no loops (tree networks) and in water networks with loops, respectively, is mathematically formulated with pipe costs, pump costs and energy costs being minimized. Efficient solution methods exploiting the network structure of the problem are developed for tree networks. In the case of networks with loops, two distinct design objectives are considered. One involves only the hydraulic requirements of the network and the other involves the hydraulic requirements and a reliability requirement in the network. For the first design objective, it is shown that the optimal solution of the problem can be obtained by solving the design problem on a spanning tree of the network. In the second situation, a proper formulation of the problem is presented and its complexity is discussed.
Keywords
Operations research, Water-supply, Hydraulic engineering, Pipelines--Design and construction, Mathematical optimization, Network analysis (Planning), Reliability (Engineering)
Publication Title
Technical Memorandums from the Department of Operations, School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Issue
Technical memorandum no. 358
Rights
This work is in the public domain and may be freely downloaded for personal or academic use
Recommended Citation
Duarte Delfino, Wilson Carlos, "Optimal Design of Water Distribution Pipeline Networks" (1975). Research Reports from the Department of Operations. 387.
https://commons.case.edu/wsom-ops-reports/387