Control system and method for controlling a water supply from at least two separate input lines into a sector of a water supply network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11454009-B2
Application number	US-201916447154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2019
Priority date	Jun 21, 2018
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

A control system (15) controls a water supply from at least two separate input lines (3i-k) into a sector (1) of a water supply network. The control system (15) is configured to receive input flow information indicative of the water input flow (qi-k) through each of the input lines (3i-k). The control system (15) is configured to receive input pressure information indicative of the input pressure (pi) in at least one (3i) of the input lines (3i-k). The control system (15) is configured to receive pressure information indicative of at least one pressure value (pcri,m,n) determined by a pressure sensor (7m,n) within the sector (1). The control system (15) is configured to control the input pressure (pi) by controlling at least a pressure regulating system (13i) at an input line (3i) based on the input flow information from all input lines (3i-k) and based on the sector pressure information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for controlling a water supply from at least two separate water input lines into a sector of a water supply network, wherein the control system is configured to:
receive input flow information indicative of water input flow through each of the input lines;
receive input pressure information indicative of input pressure in at least a first input line of the at least two separate water input lines;
receive sector pressure information indicative of at least one pressure value determined by at least one pressure sensor within the sector of the water supply network; and
generate at least one control output to control the input pressure by controlling at least a first pressure regulating system at the first input line based on the received input flow information from each of the input lines and based on the received sector pressure information.

2. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to decrease the input pressure until a lowest pressure value of the at least one pressure value determined by the at least one pressure sensor within the sector has dropped to a required minimum sector pressure.

3. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to generate at least one control output to control a contribution of the input flow through each of the input lines to the total input flow of all input lines according to an associated weight factor for each of the input lines to obtain a desired mix of input flows.

4. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the control system is configured to:
receive input pressure information indicative of the input pressure at each of the input lines;
generate at least one control output to control a pressure regulating system in each input line to control the input pressure in each of the input lines based on the input flow information from all input lines, the input pressure information from all input lines, and the sector pressure information.

5. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the control system comprises a first input control module for controlling the first pressure regulating system, wherein the first input control module is configured to receive the input flow information from all input lines and to receive a parameter set [A, B] and to generate the at least one control output for setting the input pressure at the first input line to p set =Aw 2 Q 2 +B;
Q is the total input flow of all input lines; and
w is a weight factor for the flow contribution of the first input line to the total input flow of all input lines.

6. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the control system comprises a plurality of input control modules, wherein each of the plurality of input control modules is for a corresponding one of the input lines for controlling an associated pressure regulating system at each of the input lines;
each input control module is configured to receive the input flow information from all input lines and to receive a parameter set [A i , B i ] for setting the input pressure at a corresponding one (i-th) of the input lines to p set,i =A i w i 2 Q 2 +B i ;
Q is the total input flow of all input lines; and
w i is a weight factor for the flow contribution of the i-th of the input lines to the total input flow of all input lines.

7. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the control system comprises a sector control module for receiving the input flow information from individual ones (i-th) of the input lines and the sector pressure information;
the sector control module is further configured to update and provide a parameter set [A i , B i ] for the input pressure at each of the input lines to be set to p set,i =A i w i 2 Q 2 +B i ;
Q is the total input flow of all input lines; and
w i is a weight factor for the flow contribution of the i-th of the input lines to the total input flow of all input lines.

8. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein the input flow information from each of the input lines comprises input flows through each of the input lines and an expected trend in the total flow of all input lines, in a form of a Kalman filter state vector.

9. The control system according to claim 1 , wherein:
the control system generates the at least one control output to control at least a first pressure regulating system at the first input line based selectively on a short-term prediction or a long-term prediction of the input flow information from all input lines;
a criterion for selecting either the short-term prediction or the long-term prediction is a time period that has lapsed since a latest successful receiving of input flow information from all input lines.

10. The control system according to claim 9 , wherein the short-term prediction is based on applying a recursive filter on the input flow information from all input lines.

11. The control system according to claim 9 , wherein the long-term prediction is based on applying a Fourier transformation on the input flow information from all input lines and recursively updating a truncated Fourier Series for approximating an expected periodic long-term behavior.

12. A method for controlling a water supply, from at least two separate input lines, into a sector of a water supply network, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving input flow information indicative of the water input flow through each of the input lines;
receiving input pressure information indicative of the input pressure in at least a first one of the input lines;
receiving sector pressure information, indicative of at least one pressure value determined by at least one pressure sensor within the sector of the water supply network; and
controlling the input pressure by controlling at least a first pressure regulating system at the first input line, based on the input flow information from all input lines and based on the sector pressure information.

13. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of decreasing the input pressure until a lowest of the at least one pressure value determined by the at least one pressure sensor within the sector has dropped to a required minimum sector pressure.

14. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of controlling a contribution of the input flow through each of the input lines to the total input flow of all input lines according to an associated weight factor for each of the input lines to obtain a desired mix of input flows.

15. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the steps of:
receiving input pressure information indicative of the input pressure in all other input lines; and
controlling the input pressure in each of the input lines by controlling all other pressure regulating systems at all other input lines based on the input flow information from all input lines, the input pressure information from all input lines, and the sector pressure information.

16. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of locally controlling the first pressure regulating system, wherein:
the input flow information from all input lines and a parameter set [A, B] is received and the input pressure at the first input line is set to p set =Aw 2 Q 2 +B;
Q is the total input flow of all input lines; and
w is a weight factor for the flow contribution of the first input line to the total input flow of all input lines.

17. The method according to claim 12 , further comprising the step of locally controlling an associated p

Assignees

• Grundfos Holding As

Inventors

• Kallesøe Carsten Skovmose
• Hassan Abdul-Sattar
• Jensen Tom Nørgaard

Classifications

• E03B1/02

  for public or like main supply {for industrial use} · CPC title

• E03B7/075 Primary

  Arrangement of devices for control of pressure or flow rate · CPC title

• G05D16/2066

  using controlling means acting on the pressure source · CPC title

• G05D27/02

  characterised by the use of electric means · CPC title

• E03B7/09

  Component parts or accessories (tools for cleaning pipes B08B9/02; devices for preventing contamination of drinking water pipes for domestic use E03C1/10; devices for preventing damage in case of bursts of pipes F16L; heating or cooling of pipes or pipe systems F16L53/00) · CPC title