Cost-Optimal Flexibilization of Drinking Water Pumping and Treatment Plants

Abstract

This paper examines potential cost savings attained through the flexible operation of water treatment plants and drinking water pumping and the benefits gained by investing in extended water storage capacities that enhance flexibility. An existing plant in South Germany serves as an example. Mixed-integer linear programming is used to model the plant and the electricity procurement on the German spot market while ensuring the security of supply. Cost optimization considering the different cost components reveals potential cost savings through flexible operation. The paper evaluates the benefits of building additional water reservoirs and rates the financial effects of the measures used to enhance the flexibility of water pumping and treatment plants.

Robust Scheduling for Pumping in a Water Distribution System under the Uncertainty of Activating Regulation Reserves

“…In the United States, the high energy cost related to the power consumption of pumps in water supply has become a concern [3]. In response to these social demands for energy conservation and energy cost reduction, energy management methods for water supply systems have been proposed [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

“…The characteristics of power consumption with respect to the pump flow rate are studied using piecewise linear regression to extract an efficient pump operation pattern and to linearize the characteristics of water pumps. In [13], a facility-scale optimization problem, including the operation of water treatment plants and pumps, formulated as an MILP, was proposed. The model was used to evaluate the potential cost savings of the water distribution system providing flexibility to the power systems.…”

Leveraging thewater‐energynexus to derive benefits for the electric grid throughdemand‐sidemanagement in the water supply and wastewater sectors

“… Leveraging water storage capacity: Water systems often use reservoirs and storage tanks to buffer the spatial and temporal gaps between water demand and water supply. The ability to store water can enable modifications to the timing of pumping operations, thus, allowing DR shift services to be utilized (Zimmermann, Gardian, & Rohrig, 2018). Reservoirs typically operate between two set points, representing minimum and maximum levels (Mala‐Jetmarova, Sultanova, & Savic, 2017).…”

“…T A B L E 1 Characteristics defining water sector resources that can be operated flexibly to offer energy services to the electric grid ( Kernan et al, 2017;Ruben Menke et al, 2016;Oikonomou et al, 2018;Takahashi et al, 2017) (Continues) Di Fraia et al, 2018;Giberti et al, 2020;Rous et al, 2019;Uggetti et al, 2016;Zimmermann et al, 2018) Installation can be expensive, and the system needs to be tailored to site-specific needs and characteristics. Can be customized for flexible operation to facilitate DR participation.…”

“…Another study applied a mixed‐integer linear programming to model an existing water treatment plant in South Germany and found that the flexible operation of water treatment plants and drinking water pumping could lead to significant cost savings (Zimmermann et al, 2018). The study also found that extended water storage capacities could enhance the flexibility of the water supply system by allowing to decoupling of water pumping from water treatment processes (Zimmermann et al, 2018). An experimental test was conducted by (Diaz, Ruiz, & Patino, 2017) on a water booster pressure system and showed that the system could shed 27% on average.…”