EPANET: Uses, Applications, And Analysis

Discuss about the EPANET and its uses.

EPANET

EPANET refers to a calculation program which is distributed by USEPA and applies visual interface principles for the purposes of modeling water distribution systems which are pressurized.  This program enables the pipe networks such as the reservoirs, pipes, nodes, storage tanks, valves and pumps to be drawn physically in the GPS output files, Google earth or the AutoCAD. In addition, this program determines the pressure, hydraulic head and the quality of water in every junction. The output system for the EPANET includes tables, contour plots, and network maps. (House?Peters, 2011)

EPANET can be applied in very many fields including

• The determination of locations for the installation of the pumps, valves, and tanks  
• Determination of the kind of pumps in terms of their diameters which need to be applied to the pipe system
• Determination of the grid systems and complicated networks and not just only the branched systems
• Besides, it can be used in the   determination of the behaviors of chlorine and whether it is necessary to incorporate secondary chlorine points

This technique allows for easy determination of the methods that need to be applied in the network system of fluids

• It allows for the operators to apply the simulations for the purposes of system optimization.  
• Besides, it provides a user-friendly interface in that it can be operated by most persons as it doesn't require very technical knowledge.
• It has more intuitive units when compared to other methods (Martínez-Espiñeira*, 2014)
• In addition, this technique has the capacity of modeling flows which are independent
• In addition, EPANET is more reliable and sustainable
• It has the capability of computing the pumping cost and the energy cost of any type of system whether big or small

The analysis of a network is of great importance for any water distribution system. In the urban structure, the water distribution system is of great importance since it ensures that the quality of water produced or supplied is high and better. The theoretical models used for the analysis includes the extended linear graph model. This model is usually a modified one for the purposes of including a new component network such as the tanks and the flow control valves. (Baumann, 2015).

Pipe network analyses refer to the system whereby hydraulic networks which have a number of interlinked branches and with the objective of determination of the pressure drops and the flow rates are analyzed in a network. A software known as EPANET helps in obtaining the discrete analysis of the pipe networks.  This is because the water distribution is not supposed to be taken excess water for their usage.

The study area is Limbayat zone which is located in the south-east of Surat city. It covers some villages including Parvatgoda, Parvatgamtal, Dindoli, Godadragamtal, and Gametal-Dindoli. Below is the zone map

 Besides, it has three network systems namely

• ESR-SE-1
• ESR-SE-2
• ESR-SE-3

Analysis

 Requirements

• Junction report – these are points present in the network that links join the place for the water ENTRY and water exit.  The junction input data includes initial quality of water, the water demand and finally the mean sea level.  Whereas the output points include the quality of water, pressure and the hydraulic head. These junctions normally contain emitters for varying the flow rate with respect to the water demand. (Kenney, 2008)
• Pipe report

The pipe report includes parameters such as the pipe diameter, pipe length, start and end nodes of the pipe, the roughness coefficient and finally the status. The pipe outputs include the velocity, head loss, flow rate and friction factor as well as the pip length. The friction factor is determined by the use of three formulas namely

1. Chezy-Manning formula- used for the channel flow
2. Darcy-Weisbach formula- applies to all liquids and the most theoretically correct
3. Hazen-Williams formula- commonly used and for water only (Domene, 2006)

 The head loss between the end and start node is determined by the below formula

For the full flow, below table shows the formulas used

Below stages represents the methodology for the EPANET technique

• Step 1; representation of the network description in a network
• Step 2; editing of the object properties and entry of appropriate data for the pipes, junctions, nodes, and reservoir  
• Step 3; description of the system operation
• Step4; stating of the analysis option
• Step 5; result viewing in form of graphs and tables
• Step 6; reiteration of the process (Inman, 2006)

The hydraulic simulation for the EPANET design demonstrates that the design will run and distribute the water at the different nodes and tanks in the manner detailed in the above graphs and tables. The design however yields negative pressures in different nodes in different parts of the day, and this could be bettered by clearly stating the required demand for each node at different times. The imbalance also led to other problems in the network, which hindered the networks ability to deliver water in some nodes at different times, thus completely disconnecting them from the network at these times. Flow, velocity and pressure data for the different nodes were successfully simulated.

Applications of EPANET

Conclusion

The EPANET software was effectively used for the hydraulic simulation of the proposed water distribution design. The simulation aided to assess the hydraulic behavior in the different nodes, pipes, pumps and tanks and demonstrated that the presence of negative pressures in the network could hinder the effectiveness of the system to distribute the required water demands at different nodes. The simulation however shows that the flows and velocity of water in the system would run effectively if the sources of inefficiencies were considered. This is because inefficiencies and water losses within the system promote the occurrence of pressure and head variations which have an impact of causing scarcity in some nodes as a result of disconnecting them from the network.

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