Modeling and optimized water management of inland waterway systems

Abstract

The main objective of operational water management of inland waterways is to ensure navigable water levels. In case of artificial canal systems, minimization of the electrical energy costs caused by pump operations is a further objective. A model of the canal system under consideration is developed based on a coarse grid discretization of the Saint Venant equations. With this model and the operational requirements an optimal control problem can be directly formulated and optimal pump and discharge strategies are calculated. Using a model predictive control approach and moving horizon state estimation, the control strategy is adapted to non-controllable inputs and model uncertainties. A particular challenge of the system under consideration is the identification of non-measurable inflows. The results are validated by closed-loop simulations with a high-resolution hydraulic model of an example canal system.