Whitepapers
Energy Savings Analysis Generated by a Real Time Energy Management System for Water Distribution
Presented by Sarah Thorstensen at the AWWA PA section 2007 conference, Hershey, PA
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) purchases the bulk of their $19M energy spend on the real time Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland (PJM) Interchange. A substantial portion of this is used for treatment and distribution of potable water. In 2006 WSSC installed Derceto Inc’s Energy Management System to control electrical load at all points in the potable water treatment and distribution system to manage and where possible reduce the cost of energy purchases. The real time energy market offers considerably lower cost energy over-night compared to peak times during the day so load movement can lead to substantial savings. The energy management system also makes savings in efficiency, where less kWh are used to move the same volume of water through improved operation of the pumps on their efficiency curves. The Derceto supplied system also takes maximum advantage of gravity favoring gravity flow valve stations over pumped stations where possible. The practical task of measuring energy kWh and dollar savings against a baseline proved to be one of the more difficult tasks during the project. Not only must the baseline be able to capture all these forms of savings, it also has the added complexity that water distribution systems are undergoing continuous changes, from equipment failures to new capital expenditure programs that can make it very difficult to measure savings where there is no "before" case to compare against. This paper describes the methodologies used for the development of an energy management system baseline and performance monitoring tool. Actual examples using real time and standard offer of service energy contracts are presented.
Closing the Loop of Water Supply Optimisation
Presented by Simon Bunn at the IET Water Event, Coombe Abbey, Warwick 2007
Implementation of sophisticated SCADA systems in the water industry has given plant operators unprecedented capability to monitor and control all aspects of water production and distribution from a centralized control centre. Sophisticated utilities recognize that SCADA need not be composed of one or more isolated “islands of automation” but can and should be a single system operating on a Wide Area Network, and integrated into their enterprise wide information technology system. The next logical step following implementation of a Scada system is to leverage off this investment using state of the art software to allow predictive as opposed to reactive control of the water system. Resulting benefits can include improving water quality through reduced water age, minimizing energy costs and improved system operations without compromising operational reliability. This paper will present a selected number of case histories from the US where innovative optimisation software has significantly improved operation and achieved rapid pay-back through energy cost savings.
Utilizing Energy and Demand Forecasting as a Tool to Develop Energy Procurement Strategies
This paper was published in conjunction with Eastern Municipal Water District, CA in 2006.
Energy costs for pumping is typically one of the largest expenses in a water utility’s operations budget. The capability to effectively forecast demand profile and schedule production can be beneficially used to guide the utility to procure energy products (electricity, diesel or natural gas) in a manner designed to contain costs.
Many utilities have procurement flexibility for purchasing energy used for pumping. Potential options may include choice of alternative suppliers, tradeoff between electricity, natural gas, and co-generation, or electricity purchases in a deregulated market. The understanding of, and effective use of a properly designed forecasting tool to project near term demand and energy load profiles will give the operations and purchasing managers the updated information required to make complex decisions, minimizing the risks and leveraging the benefits.
Pump Scheduling Optimization in Four US Cities: Case Studies
Presented by Simon Bunn at the Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Cincinnati 2006
The Derceto pump scheduling optimization software package is a complex real-time and fully automatic pump scheduling system designed to minimize energy cost while maintaining water quality. It is now in use in four large US municipal operations. One application operates in the real-time electricity market and the optimizer is capable of making pump schedule decisions in real-time to optimize energy costs while not compromising operational requirements or water quality. The challenges overcome include generating 48-hour ahead schedules for over 80 pumps in less than 2 minutes using nothing more than standard office PC hardware and overcoming operator resistance to automation of critical distribution systems. Results showing the benefits of optimization including actual energy savings results and water quality improvements from four case studies are given.
Energy Management in a Deregulated Market
Presented by Simon Bunn at the AWWA ACE 2006 in San Antonio, TX.
As the electricity industry continues deregulation, utilities, with proper planning, can effectively manage procurement on the real time market to minimize energy costs while maintaining production demands and assuring reliable operations within defined boundary conditions. The water industry is in a unique position to benefit from deregulation, with its capacity to pump and store water when electricity cost is low, and draw down by gravity when cost is high
Implementing an Energy Management System for Distribution Pumping
Presented by Simon Bunn at the AWWA ACE 2005 in San Francisco.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is a publicly owned utility that provides water service to over 1.3 million people in the San Francisco/Oakland area of California. The service area includes 20 incorporated cities and 16 unincorporated communities in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the eastern part of San Francisco Bay Area. Water consumption averages 220 MGD and peaks at 341 MGD. The system includes 6 water treatment plants, approximately 3900 miles of water mains, 135 pumping plants, 180 treated water reservoirs and over 125 pressure zones. EBMUD operates two hydroelectric power plants which generate an average of 185 GWh of electricity in a medium year. In 2004 EBMUD electric bill totaled approximately $12 million of which $8 million was for water distribution pumping.
Derceto: An Online Pump Schedule Optimization System
Presented to the New Zealand WWA in 2002 reviewing the first year of operation of Derceto at Wellington Regional Council.
The introduction of an online software optimisation tool has reduced power costs for water distribution by more than 12 percent for Wellington Regional Council. Pumping charges can be a large cost in production for treated water, especially when river levels run low and greater demand is placed on well fields which have high pumping requirements. The ability to pump water to reservoirs during low power charge periods and let it gravity feed into the reticulation system during peak periods makes WRC's water distribution systems an ideal candidate for Derceto, an optimisation tool produced by Beca Consultants.
Application of an expert system to control treated water distribution
This paper was published in conjuntion with New Plymouth District Council in 1998.
New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), New Zealand, has implemented an Expert System to optimise the distribution of water from the water treatment plant to five bulk supply reservoirs. The Expert System receives live data from a SCADA system and uses a set of rules to control flow through the trunk mains while optimising production throughput at the plant. A linear program evaluates the changes in system demands, reservoir levels and flow patterns every three hours, then empirically predicts expected future patterns to produce an optimised flow solution.
Energy Savings Analysis Generated by a Real Time Energy Management System for Water Distribution
Presented by Sarah Thorstensen at the AWWA PA section 2007 conference, Hershey, PA
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) purchases the bulk of their $19M energy spend on the real time Pennsylvania Jersey Maryland (PJM) Interchange. A substantial portion of this is used for treatment and distribution of potable water. In 2006 WSSC installed Derceto Inc’s Energy Management System to control electrical load at all points in the potable water treatment and distribution system to manage and where possible reduce the cost of energy purchases. The real time energy market offers considerably lower cost energy over-night compared to peak times during the day so load movement can lead to substantial savings. The energy management system also makes savings in efficiency, where less kWh are used to move the same volume of water through improved operation of the pumps on their efficiency curves. The Derceto supplied system also takes maximum advantage of gravity favoring gravity flow valve stations over pumped stations where possible. The practical task of measuring energy kWh and dollar savings against a baseline proved to be one of the more difficult tasks during the project. Not only must the baseline be able to capture all these forms of savings, it also has the added complexity that water distribution systems are undergoing continuous changes, from equipment failures to new capital expenditure programs that can make it very difficult to measure savings where there is no "before" case to compare against. This paper describes the methodologies used for the development of an energy management system baseline and performance monitoring tool. Actual examples using real time and standard offer of service energy contracts are presented.
Closing the Loop of Water Supply Optimisation
Presented by Simon Bunn at the IET Water Event, Coombe Abbey, Warwick 2007
Implementation of sophisticated SCADA systems in the water industry has given plant operators unprecedented capability to monitor and control all aspects of water production and distribution from a centralized control centre. Sophisticated utilities recognize that SCADA need not be composed of one or more isolated “islands of automation” but can and should be a single system operating on a Wide Area Network, and integrated into their enterprise wide information technology system. The next logical step following implementation of a Scada system is to leverage off this investment using state of the art software to allow predictive as opposed to reactive control of the water system. Resulting benefits can include improving water quality through reduced water age, minimizing energy costs and improved system operations without compromising operational reliability. This paper will present a selected number of case histories from the US where innovative optimisation software has significantly improved operation and achieved rapid pay-back through energy cost savings.
Utilizing Energy and Demand Forecasting as a Tool to Develop Energy Procurement Strategies
This paper was published in conjunction with Eastern Municipal Water District, CA in 2006.
Energy costs for pumping is typically one of the largest expenses in a water utility’s operations budget. The capability to effectively forecast demand profile and schedule production can be beneficially used to guide the utility to procure energy products (electricity, diesel or natural gas) in a manner designed to contain costs.
Many utilities have procurement flexibility for purchasing energy used for pumping. Potential options may include choice of alternative suppliers, tradeoff between electricity, natural gas, and co-generation, or electricity purchases in a deregulated market. The understanding of, and effective use of a properly designed forecasting tool to project near term demand and energy load profiles will give the operations and purchasing managers the updated information required to make complex decisions, minimizing the risks and leveraging the benefits.Pump Scheduling Optimization in Four US Cities: Case Studies
Presented by Simon Bunn at the Water Distribution Systems Analysis Symposium, Cincinnati 2006
The Derceto pump scheduling optimization software package is a complex real-time and fully automatic pump scheduling system designed to minimize energy cost while maintaining water quality. It is now in use in four large US municipal operations. One application operates in the real-time electricity market and the optimizer is capable of making pump schedule decisions in real-time to optimize energy costs while not compromising operational requirements or water quality. The challenges overcome include generating 48-hour ahead schedules for over 80 pumps in less than 2 minutes using nothing more than standard office PC hardware and overcoming operator resistance to automation of critical distribution systems. Results showing the benefits of optimization including actual energy savings results and water quality improvements from four case studies are given.
Energy Management in a Deregulated Market
Presented by Simon Bunn at the AWWA ACE 2006 in San Antonio, TX.
As the electricity industry continues deregulation, utilities, with proper planning, can effectively manage procurement on the real time market to minimize energy costs while maintaining production demands and assuring reliable operations within defined boundary conditions. The water industry is in a unique position to benefit from deregulation, with its capacity to pump and store water when electricity cost is low, and draw down by gravity when cost is high
Implementing an Energy Management System for Distribution Pumping
Presented by Simon Bunn at the AWWA ACE 2005 in San Francisco.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is a publicly owned utility that provides water service to over 1.3 million people in the San Francisco/Oakland area of California. The service area includes 20 incorporated cities and 16 unincorporated communities in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties in the eastern part of San Francisco Bay Area. Water consumption averages 220 MGD and peaks at 341 MGD. The system includes 6 water treatment plants, approximately 3900 miles of water mains, 135 pumping plants, 180 treated water reservoirs and over 125 pressure zones. EBMUD operates two hydroelectric power plants which generate an average of 185 GWh of electricity in a medium year. In 2004 EBMUD electric bill totaled approximately $12 million of which $8 million was for water distribution pumping.
Derceto: An Online Pump Schedule Optimization System
Presented to the New Zealand WWA in 2002 reviewing the first year of operation of Derceto at Wellington Regional Council.
The introduction of an online software optimisation tool has reduced power costs for water distribution by more than 12 percent for Wellington Regional Council. Pumping charges can be a large cost in production for treated water, especially when river levels run low and greater demand is placed on well fields which have high pumping requirements. The ability to pump water to reservoirs during low power charge periods and let it gravity feed into the reticulation system during peak periods makes WRC's water distribution systems an ideal candidate for Derceto, an optimisation tool produced by Beca Consultants.
Application of an expert system to control treated water distribution
This paper was published in conjuntion with New Plymouth District Council in 1998.
New Plymouth District Council (NPDC), New Zealand, has implemented an Expert System to optimise the distribution of water from the water treatment plant to five bulk supply reservoirs. The Expert System receives live data from a SCADA system and uses a set of rules to control flow through the trunk mains while optimising production throughput at the plant. A linear program evaluates the changes in system demands, reservoir levels and flow patterns every three hours, then empirically predicts expected future patterns to produce an optimised flow solution.