Experimental test rig designed to analyse pumping station operation controlled by pressure at different key points

Abstract

The operation of pumps within a pumping station can be controlled by the Pressure Set Point (PSP) value compared to the reading of a pressure sensor placed either at the exit of the pumping station, on the main discharge pipe (classical PSP method), or at a critical/monitoring point within the water distribution network (termed further as remote-control PSP method). We designed and built an experimental test rig, allowing to study both control methods, in the attempt to check the advantage of the remote-control PSP method, with respect to the classical PSP method, since governing equations show that they are equivalent. The design relies on the theoretical approach and numerical results presented within this paper.