Energies 2017, 10(10), 1666; doi:10.3390/en10101666
Energy Production by Means of Pumps As Turbines in Water Distribution Networks
Dipartimento di Ingegneria, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 44122 Ferrara, Italy
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Received: 28 September 2017 / Revised: 13 October 2017 / Accepted: 18 October 2017 / Published: 20 October 2017
Abstract
This paper deals with the estimation of the energy production by means of pumps used as turbines to exploit residual hydraulic energy, as in the case of available head and flow rate in water distribution networks. To this aim, four pumps with different characteristics are investigated to estimate the producible yearly electric energy. The performance curves of Pumps As Turbines (PATs), which relate head, power, and efficiency to the volume flow rate over the entire PAT operation range, were derived by using published experimental data. The four considered water distribution networks, for which experimental data taken during one year were available, are characterized by significantly different hydraulic features (average flow rate in the range 10–116 L/s; average pressure reduction in the range 12–53 m). Therefore, energy production accounts for actual flow rate and head variability over the year. The conversion efficiency is also estimated, for both the whole water distribution network and the PAT alone. View Full-TextKeywords:
pump as turbine; pump; water distribution network; hydraulic energy; efficiency
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Venturini, M.; Alvisi, S.; Simani, S.; Manservigi, L. Energy Production by Means of Pumps As Turbines in Water Distribution Networks. Energies 2017, 10, 1666.
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