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Browsing IPS - ESTB - SEG - Artigos científicos by Author "Carriço, Nelson"
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- An information systems for infrastructure asset management tailored to portuguese water utilities: platform conceptualization and a prototype demonstrationPublication . Carriço, Nelson; Ferreira, Bruno; Antunes, André; Grueau, Cédric; Barreira, Raquel; Mendes, Ana; Covas, Dídia; Monteiro, Laura; Santos, João; Brito, Isabel S.This paper presents a new information technology platform specially tailored for infrastructure asset management of urban water systems operated by water utilities of lower digital maturity level, developed in the scope of DECIdE research project. This platform aims at the integration of different data from the water utilities with several information systems and the assessment of the system performance, in terms of water losses, energy efficiency and quality of service by using developed tools (i.e., water and energy balances and key performance indicators). This platform was tested with data from five small to medium size Portuguese water utilities with different maturity levels in terms of technological and human resources. Obtained results are very promising since the platform allows to assess the systems performance periodically which constitute an important part of the infrastructure asset management for small and medium-sized water utilities
- Computational Tools for Supporting the Operation and Management of Water Distribution Systems towards Digital TransformationPublication . Carriço, Nelson; Ferreira, Bruno; Antunes, André; Caetano, João; Covas, DídiaThis paper presents a set of computational tools specially developed for supporting the operation and management of water distribution systems towards digital transformation of water services. These tools were developed in the scope of two R&D projects carried out in Portugal, DECIdE and WISDom, during 2018–2022. The DECIdE project focused on the development of tools for importing cadastral and operational data, as well as on the three operational tools for supporting the performance assessment: the first allows the calculation of different key performance indicators, both at a global and sectorial level, which is an annual requirement of the water regulator, and the other two allow the calculation of the water and the energy balances and a set of complementary indices. The WISDom project aimed at the implementation of applications that directly address specific water utility needs, namely, the flow rate data processing, the optimal location of pressure sensors, the identification of critical areas in the distribution network for pipe burst location, and the prioritization of pipes for rehabilitation. Implemented tools are useful to support water utilities in the daily operation and management of their systems, being a step forward towards digital transformation of the water sector.
- Data and information systems management for the urban water infrastructure condition assessmentPublication . Carriço, Nelson; Ferreira, BrunoMost of urban water infrastructure around the world were built several decades ago and nowadays they are deteriorated. So, the assets that constitute these infrastructures need to be rehabilitated. Since most of the assets are buried, water utilities face the challenge of deciding how, where and when to rehabilitate. Condition assessment is a vital component on plan rehabilitation actions and is mostly based on the data collected from the managed networks. This collected data need to be put together in order to be transformed into useful information. Nonetheless, the large amount of assets and data involved makes data and information management a challenging task for water utilities, especially in those with as lower digital maturity level. This paper highlights the importance of data and information systems’ management for urban water infrastructure condition assessment based on the authors’ experience.
- Desenvolvimento e validação de aplicação computacional para avaliar sistemas de rega sob pressãoPublication . Luz, Paulo Brito da; Felicíssimo, D; Carriço, Nelson; Antunes, AndréO setor do regadio requer práticas com sustentabilidade ambiental e competitividade socioeconómica, que envolvem o incremento do uso eficiente da água, em diferentes escalas e redes de distribuição. Muitas abordagens inovadoras para apoiar essas práticas, nomeadamente as que se relacionam com as tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC), são presentemente inseridas e divulgadas na designada “Agricultura 4.0”. Neste sentido, ao nível da rede terciária, as TIC têm melhorado a capacidade de se transferir e utilizar informação, facilitando ao regante a abordagem de diferentes processos relativos às instalações de rega, desde a fase de compra até avaliações de desempenho, entre outros. Na generalidade dos projetos hidroagrícolas em Portugal, a opção dos regantes por métodos sob pressão (i.e. rega por aspersão e localizada) tem crescido face a vantagens de automatização, economia de mão-de-obra e de maior eficiência no uso da água. Contudo, continuam a observar- se situações de risco na gestão dos recursos naturais e energéticos, pela falta de adequação do sistema de rega às condições pedo-climáticas específicas das parcelas. Consequentemente, um sistema de rega sob pressão pode atingir níveis de classificação de desempenho muito baixos, considerando as perdas de água excessivas, relacionadas com os escoamentos (superficiais e/ou subterrâneos), a evaporação e os desvios causados pelo vento. Estas perdas podem ser calculadas pela Eficiência de Aplicação, que é definida pela razão entre o volume médio de água disponível para as plantas e o volume médio aplicado na rega. Este indicador depende de determinadas variáveis com impacto mais significativo que se relacionam com: 1) tipo e características da rega: dotação, taxa de aplicação; 2) características do terreno: textura do solo, declive e coberto vegetal; e 3) fatores climáticos: velocidade do vento e temperatura. O presente artigo tem como objetivo a apresentação de uma aplicação computacional desenvolvida e validada para o cálculo da eficiência de aplicação de água de sistemas de rega sob pressão, ao nível da rede terciária (parcela). Esta ferramenta de AgriTech processa classificações e padrões devidamente enquadrados em informação e recomendações de normalização atualizada, capacitando o utilizador para fazer as opções mais válidas com base em critérios objetivos de boas práticas.
- Flowrate time series processing in engineering tools for water distribution networksPublication . Ferreira, Bruno; Carriço, Nelson; Barreira, Raquel; Dias, Tiago; Covas, DídiaThe current paper presents a comprehensive methodology for processing unevenly (and evenly) spaced flowrate time series for subsequent use in engineering tools, such as the calibration of hydraulic models or the detection and location of leaks and bursts. The methodology is a four-step procedure: (a) anomaly identification and removal, (b) short-duration gap reconstruction, (c) time step normalization, and (d) long- duration gap reconstruction. The time step normalization is carried out by a numerical procedure prior to the reconstruction process. This reconstruction process uses a pattern model coupled with regression techniques (i.e., autoregressive integrated moving average and exponential smoothing). The methodology is calibrated using Monte Carlo simulations applied to a water utility flowrate time series and validated with two additional time series from different water utilities. Obtained results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can process flowrate time series from water supply systems with different characteristics (e.g., consumption pattern, data acquisition system, transmission settings) both for normal operating conditions and during the occurrence of abnormal events (e.g., pipe bursts). This methodology is a very useful tool for the daily management of water utilities, preparing the time series to be used in different engineering tools, namely, hydraulic simulation, model calibration or online burst detectio
- Lessons learnt from the application of MCDA sorting methods to pipe network rehabilitation prioritizationPublication . Caetano, João; Carriço, Nelson; Covas, DídiaMost water distribution networks were built a few decades ago, showing symptoms of deterioration. Additionally, current renewal rates are insufficient to overcome pipe networks’ continuous ageing process. The development of methodologies for assisting the definition of pipe rehabilitation, including which pipes, and when and what financial amounts to allocate to this activity, are of the utmost importance. These methodologies typically have to attend to several points of view, for which multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) techniques may be used. The current paper demonstrates and discusses the application of two MCDA techniques—the ELECTRE TRI-C and FlowSort—to a real water distribution network. Both techniques allowed assigning every single pipe to a predefined priority category, although the ELECTRE TRI-C proved to be more effective. These approaches imply that the planning of investment needs is carried out based on individual pipes, but these approaches are not consistent with the actual rehabilitation projects. A clustering technique called affinity propagation, together with cost functions, were applied to define and quantify homogeneous rehabilitation units. Even so, the methodology did not prove to be rigorous enough for the selection of pipes to be rehabilitated. On the other hand, it proved effective to estimate annual budgets for rehabilitation.
- Método multicritério aplicado ao planeamento de reabilitação em redes de distribuição de águaPublication . Caetano, João; Carriço, Nelson; Covas, DídiaO presente artigo tem como objetivo a aplicação de um método multicritério de apoio à decisão a um caso de estudo para a definição de condutas candidatas a intervenção de reabilitação. Para tal, escolheu-se o ELECTRE TRI-B, da família dos métodos ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE), dado que permite uma razoável flexibilidade na priorização de investimentos em reabilitação, comportando desvios, face às disponibilidades financeiras e planos orçamentais, e atendendo a distintos critérios e métricas de avaliação. O caso de estudo permitiu identificar as dificuldades encontradas na aplicação deste método, sendo realizadas considerações relativas ao estabelecimento dos parâmetros estruturais do método e à análise das preferências dos decisores, sendo estes aspetos críticos e condicionantes para os resultados finais. Outra constatação importante é o impacto da escassez ou inexistência de informação organizada e disponível, que impossibilita o estabelecimento de métricas abrangentes. O desenvolvimento de uma metodologia generalista de apoio à decisão com base no método ELECTRE TRI-B é um processo complexo.
- Multi-criteria decision analysis in urban water asset managementPublication . Carriço, Nelson; Covas, Dídia; Almeida, Maria do CéuThis paper presents a multi-criteria decision support methodology for selection and prioritization of rehabilitation intervention in urban water infrastructures considering performance, cost and risk and a long-term perspective. This methodology is divided into three main stages: problem identification, structuring and evaluation. Problem structuring, a crucial stage for the outcomes, includes identifying objectives, selecting scenarios within the analysis period, defining problem options and the problematic type. Problem evaluation includes the selection of assessment metrics, selection of the aggregation method, application of the method and sensitivity and robustness analysis and final recommendations. The methodology is applied to a real case study of a water distribution system, being the different stages presented in detail and obtained results discussed.
- Multi-objective optimization of pressure sensor location for burst detection and network calibrationPublication . Ferreira, Bruno; Antunes, André; Carriço, Nelson; Covas, DídiaThis paper proposes a methodology to determine the optimal location of pressure sensors for the simul- taneous calibration of the hydraulic network model and the detection of pipe bursts. The methodology considers a search space reduction process and aims at maximizing nodal pressure sensitivities to both pipe roughness coefficients and pipe burst sizes. A multi-objective optimization problem is formulated for a given number of sensors and multiple optimal configurations of pressure sensors are obtained. Three different optimal configurations are selected and compared: one solution that individually maximizes each objective function (two solutions) and one trade-off solution. The methodology is applied to a real water distribution network with hourly consumption data. Results demonstrate that (i) the optimal loca- tion of pressure sensors hardly changes with the perturbation values used to numerically compute the sensitivities and (ii) minor differences can be found in the performance of pipe roughness calibration and pipe burst location by using either a solution that individually maximizes each objective function or the trade-off solution considering the high number of pressure sensors (26) and the oversized pipe diameters to comply with firefighting conditions, being pressure less sensitive to friction and flow rate changes.
- A novel methodology for pipe grouping and rehabilitation interventions scheduling in water distribution networksPublication . Caetano, João; Carriço, Nelson; Figueira, José Rui; Covas, DídiaThe establishment of effective medium and long-term rehabilitation strategies is essential to counter the continuous process of deterioration of the water distribution networks. A novel methodology to support pipe rehabilitation planning, including the establishment and scheduling of interventions in the medium and long-term using the graph theory, is developed, and demonstrated using a real case study. This methodology is divided into two main phases: the first is the definition of rehabilitation pipe groups according to the available budget and pipes connectivity and the second is the scheduling of these groups over time according to relevant criteria. This approach allows a clearer correspondence between the financial amounts to be annually invested in rehabilitation and a grouping of single pipes to be rehabilitated. Results demonstrate that the methodology allows a better and advanced planning of interventions when compared with the current traditional approaches applied by water utilities.