AN EXPLICIT APPROACH FOR MODELING CLOSED PIPES IN WATER NETWORKS

An explicit approach has been developed for use in modelling closed pi pes in water distribution networks. The explicit approach is able to d irectly incorporate the zero-flow effect of closed pipes into the over all network modelling process. The resulting method is based on an ana lytical reformulation of the quasilinear set of flow continuity and en ergy equations governing the network hydraulics in terms of energy dis placement for the individual closed pipes that exactly meet the corres ponding zero-flow boundary constraint imposed. The proposed algorithm is shown to be robust and efficient, and is guaranteed to converge in an expeditious manner. The method compares favorably with others by el iminating numerical diffusion and computational instability or repetit ive network topology alterations suffered by the previous procedures. An example application is presented. Enhancement of mathematical model ling of water distribution networks is a principal benefit of this met hodology.