Optimal design of series of pipes in sewer systems including pumping stations for flat terrains

ABSTRACT

This paper proposes a methodology for the optimal design of series of sewer pipes including pumping stations. It employs a Shortest Path Algorithm to select the optimal combination of pipe diameters and invert elevations, as well as the optimal pumping features such as the number of pumps, location, and pumping head. The methodology is intended to be applied to the design of any sewer series. Although these are uncommon in real infrastructure, the study allows an analysis of the effect of pipe roughness, inflows, and pipe length on the total cost of the system and pumping features. The methodology was tested in theoretical series of 10 and 20 pipes as well as in a real series that is part of the sewer system of Bogotá, Colombia. The resulting designs suggested that using smooth pipes and reducing the pumping flow rate would decrease the cost of sewer systems in flat terrain.

KEYWORDS:

• Flat terrains
• hydraulic design
• optimization
• pumping station
• series of pipes
• shortest path problem

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Juan Ignacio Arbelaez and the students at Universidad de los Andes whose undergraduate work contributed to the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in 4TU.ResearchData at http://doi.org/10.4121/0a9b5a46-7b26-4e28-82f4-47b6330a042f.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed https://doi.org/10.1080/1573062X.2024.2329086