event
Wednesday 09 Mar 2016: Latest developments on the modelling of residential water demand pulses and benefits obtainable thanks to data acquired by smart metering technologies
Dr Enrico Creaco - University of Pavia
Harrison 170 12:00-13:00
In recent decades, a substantial amount of research has been carried out to set up user demand models at high time resolution (down to 1 sec). If suitably calibrated, these models can be used to generate consistent demand pulses coming from a single household or a group of households. Spatial and temporal aggregation of the pulses through the “bottom-up” approach then enables reconstruction of nodal demand trends, to be used inside water distribution models. Furthermore, the local flow field given by these models can also be used as an input to water-quality models that require ultrafine temporal and spatial resolutions to predict the fate of contaminants moving through municipal distribution systems.
This presentation will begin by describing and comparing the two main kinds of pulse generation models present in the scientific literature:
1. Models that use stochastic processes, such as the Poisson rectangular pulse process or the Neyman-Scott cluster process, to reproduce the overall water demand of the individual user without making a distinction of the contributions of the various appliances of the user’s; and
2. Models that are able to reproduce the demand from respective microcomponents, such as by adding up the single water uses, with the aim of reconstructing the overall water demand.
This presentation will also highlight the benefits of considering the mutual dependence of pulse duration and intensity inside the modelling. Then, it will be shown how data acquired through smart metering technologies, of which the use is currently on the rise, can be used for parameterizing the pulse generation models. The increasing availability of water demand data, which can be used for parameterization, is expected to lead to significant improvements in the consistency and representativeness of pulse generation modelling. Therefore, the presentation will conclude by exploring the benefits that this will bring in the modelling, design and management of water distribution systems.
Bio: Enrico Creaco obtained his PhD in Hydraulic Engineering in 2006 and has research topics pertinent to water and environmental systems for over ten years. Dr Creaco’s career began at the Universities of Catania and then Ferrara, Italy, and he obtained an Associate Professor Qualification in the Hydraulics, Hydrology and Hydraulic Infrastructure Sector in December 2013. From May 2014 to June 2015 Dr Creaco took up a Research Fellow post at the University of Exeter and became Assistant Professor at the University of Pavia in September 2015.
Dr Creaco has been lecturer on hydraulic infrastructures at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and has published over 40 papers in a variety of international journals. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management-ASCE and participated in various national and international research projects.
