Scientific Results

This catalogue is obtained by conducting a systematic literature review of scientific studies and reviews related to monitoring, forecasting, and simulating the inland water cycle. The analysis maps scientific expertise across research groups and classifies findings by the type of inland water studied, application focus, and geographical scope. A gap analysis will identify missing research areas and assess their relevance to policymaking.

ID â–² Type Year Authors Title Venue/Journal DOI Research type Water System Technical Focus Abstract Link with Projects Link with Tools Related policies ID
publications-5401 Conference paper 2019 Carrillo PeΓ±a A.L.; Eugenio Barroso J.S.; MartΓ­nez Vesga A.A.; Roa Prada S.; Ardila AcuΓ±a V.A. Improving the performance of centrifugal pumps in serial and parallel configurations using digital twins ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) 10.1115/IMECE2019-12038 Centrifugal pumps are devices commonly used in countless industrial and residential applications, from water supply systems to oil and gas processing plants. These rotatory hydraulic machines have a strong impact on the energy consumption of industry worldwide, not only because of their vast amount but also because of their continuous operation. Therefore, developing techniques to improve the efficiency of pumping systems is of great help to make communities and industrial activity more sustainable. The overall performance of these pieces of machinery cannot be fully predicted by means of analytical procedures due to the complexity of the fluid flow phenomena that occurs in their interior, so it is common practice to resort to alternate modeling techniques, such as computer aided numerical analysis, which can predict the performance of a pump, given its CAD computer model. However, the performance of an actual centrifugal pump may deviate from its ideal behavior due to multiple causing factors which may alter the performance curves given by the manufacturers in the corresponding data sheets. The discrepancies between the real and the simulated responses of centrifugal pumps demand for better modeling and simulation techniques to improve the design of more efficient pumping systems. Digital twins have the ability to bring the simulation environment closer to reality, by replicating the behavior of the physical system in a simulation environment with the support of experimental data. The digital twin of a multiple pumps system with serial and parallel configurations was developed, based on two identical industrial centrifugal pumps available in the laboratory. Experimental data was collected to calibrate the digital twin system so that the simulated system can predict the response under changing operating conditions. The simulation environment was developed with the assistance of a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics computer program. After validating the behavior of the virtual components, with respect to the behavior of their actual counterparts, tests were carried out to predict the behavior of the pumping system in case of downstream disturbances which can affect the operating point of the overall pumping system and its corresponding efficiency. The development of the digital twin for the pumping system allowed visualizing how the pumps connected in series or in parallel can be maneuvered to adjust its operating conditions to achieve higher efficiency operating conditions in response to changes in the conditions downstream in the pipeline. Copyright Β© 2019 ASME.
publications-5402 Article 2020 Wei Z.; Pagani A.; Li B.; Guo W. Monitoring Embedded Flow Networks Using Graph Fourier Transform Enabled Sparse Molecular Relays IEEE Communications Letters 10.1109/LCOMM.2020.2978835 Many embedded networks are difficult to monitor, such as water distribution networks (WDNs). A key challenge is how to use minimum sparse sensors to measure contamination and transmit contamination data to a hub for system analysis. Existing approaches deploy sensors using multi-objective optimisation and transmit the data using ground penetrating waves or fixed-line access. Here, for the first time, we introduce a novel molecular communication relay system, which is able to transmit the data report to the hub via the water-flow of WDN itself, and avoids the complex ground penetrating techniques. A water flow data-driven Graph Fourier Transform (GFT) sampling method is designed to inform the invariant orthogonal locations for deploying the molecular relay sensors. Each sensor encodes information via a DNA molecule that enables the common hub to reconstruct the full contamination information. Numerical simulation validates the proposed system, providing a pathway to integrate MC into macro-scale Digital Twin platforms for infrastructure monitoring. Β© 1997-2012 IEEE.
publications-5403 Conference paper 2019 LeBoeuf C.; Laurito M. New control valve technology requiring engineering solutions to reduce erosion corrosion and flow accelerated corrosion ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Proceedings (IMECE) 10.1115/IMECE2019-11563 Due to the new control valve technology presented in this paper, inlet and outlet reducers must be used to replace globe valves up to five times its size in existing systems. In many water, steam or any high velocity fluid application, there are wear mechanisms, such as Erosion Corrosion (EC) and Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC), that cause wall-thinning and pitting in process equipment. This deterioration of the reducer wall can be extremely dangerous and, ultimately, can cause reducers to fail. In an attempt to lessen the risk of these failure modes, using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Clarke Valveβ„Ά has engineered new asymmetric reducers that are cast into the body of the valve. These newly designed reducers with a coned-shaped inlet and a bell-shaped outlet will decrease failures in the field by reducing high velocity areas along the pipe wall, preventing unplanned downtime and unsafe system failures. A digital twin of both the off-the-shelf (OTS) reducers and the newly designed asymmetric reducers were created and, in support of the design process, CFD simulations were used to not only observe the deficiencies in the existing β€_x009c_off-the-shelfβ€_x009d_ (OTS) reducers, but also optimize the newly integrated asymmetric reducers. Copyright Β© 2019 ASME.
publications-5404 Conference paper 2019 van Son R.; Jaw S.W.; Wieser A. A data capture framework for improving the quality of subsurface utility information International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences - ISPRS Archives 10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-4-W15-97-2019 To plan, develop, and manage underground space and make informed decisions leading to desirable outcomes, planners, land administrators, and engineers need to make sense of the underground. A reliable digital twin of the underground - a realistic, digital representation of the physical world below the surface - is required. Utilities, consisting of the pipes, ducts, cables, manholes and other assets that provide electricity, gas, water, sewerage, and telecommunication services, make up a significant portion of the shallow layers of the subsurface. A lack of reliable information on subsurface utilities may potentially lead to poor decisions leading to undesirable outcomes, lengthy and costly planning and land administration processes, and lengthy, costly, and hazardous development processes. The advent of mobile 3D ground penetrating radar technology offers the promise of non-destructive mapping of existing subsurface utilities in a large area in a relatively short amount of time and could potentially be used to improve the reliability of available information. In this work, a small number of cases studies are described at evaluating the feasibility of a large area mapping approach for subsurface utilities. Based on the results of the studies, a data capture framework for the gradual improvement of the quality of information on existing subsurface utilities is proposed. Β© Authors 2019. CC BY 4.0 License.
publications-5405 Conference paper 2019 Pivano L.; Nguyen D.T.; Ludvigsen K.B. Digital twin for drilling operations - Towards cloud-based operational planning Proceedings of the Annual Offshore Technology Conference 10.4043/29316-ms Most drilling operations in deep water are performed in Dynamic Positioning (DP) mode. In harsh environments and shallow water conditions, thruster assisted position mooring configurations are often the preferred choice as the mooring lines provide an extra help to counteract the environmental loads. Drilling operations, both in pure DP or thruster-assisted position mooring modes, are limited by the ability of the vessel to maintain position and heading within the required accuracy. In addition, the motion in heave, roll and pitch must be within predefined limits. These limits vary between the type of operation to be performed. For example, reconnecting the low marine riser package has much stricter motion limitations compared to logging or drilling through riser operations. All these operations need to be carefully planned; and having estimate in advance of the vessel motion and station-keeping performance could be of vital importance, also considering planned maintenance. The aim of this paper is to share experiences in planning DP drilling operations by using cloud-based time-domain simulations performed with a digital twin of a semi-submersible drilling rig. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an asset, used from early design through building and operations, maintained and easily accessible throughout its lifecycle. A digital twin can replicate many aspects of the asset; in the case of planning DP drilling operations, our digital twin includes time-domain models for running simulations and predicting the vessel motion. Copyright Β© 2019, Offshore Technology Conference
publications-5406 Conference paper 2019 Yan J.; Zlatanova S.; Aleksandrov M.; Diakite A.A.; Pettit C. Integration of 3D objects and terrain for 3D modelling supporting the digital twin ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences 10.5194/isprs-annals-IV-4-W8-147-2019 3D modelling of precincts and cities has significantly advanced in the last decades, as we move towards the concept of the Digital Twin. Many 3D city models have been created but a large portion of them neglect representing terrain and buildings accurately. Very often the surface is either considered planar or is not represented. On the other hand, many Digital Terrain Models (DTM) have been created as 2.5D triangular irregular networks (TIN) or grids for different applications such as water management, sign of view or shadow computation, tourism, land planning, telecommunication, military operations and communications. 3D city models need to represent both the 3D objects and terrain in one consistent model, but still many challenges remain. A critical issue when integrating 3D objects and terrain is the identification of the valid intersection between 2.5D terrain and 3D objects. Commonly, 3D objects may partially float over or sink into the terrain; the depth of the underground parts might not be known; or the accuracy of data sets might be different. This paper discusses some of these issues and presents an approach for a consistent 3D reconstruction of LOD1 models on the basis of 3D point clouds, DTM, and 2D footprints of buildings. Such models are largely used for urban planning, city analytics or environmental analysis. The proposed method can be easily extended for higher LODs or BIM models. Β© Authors 2019. CC BY 4.0 License.
publications-5407 Conference paper 2020 Camilleri L.; El Gindy M.; Kaci Y.; Othmanine M. Production gains and extended electrical submersible pump run lives in harsh well conditions International Petroleum Technology Conference 2020, IPTC 2020 10.2523/iptc-19852-ms Installing ESPs in a reservoir for the first time is always fraught with the uncertainty of achieving economic run lives and this is further amplified in harsh conditions. To mitigate the financial and production risks, sufficient production gains are required to overcome potential short ESP run lives. This paper discusses the results of four pilot ESP wells in Algeria and how infant mortality was eliminated in addition to achieving early production gains. Key to achieving the production gains was candidate selection and well testing to confirm the well productivity and aquifer pressure support. This process also mitigated risk by selecting wells from a reservoir sector with a historical low incidence of asphaltenes and GORs, which have not spiked substantially above solution GOR. Once the ESPs were installed, the production gains were achieved by correctly managing drawdown through real time surveillance, which was also used to manage the stress on the ESP and avoid infant mortality. Longer term run lives was achieved by selecting the correct ESP materials and completion architecture for the well conditions. At the time of writing this paper, none of the four ESPs had failed. The most recent installation had been running for 400 days and the oldest for over 1,300days, which is no small feat when one considers the harsh conditions; a reservoir depth of 10,500 ft TVD with a bottom hole temperature of 245 deg F and a volatile hydrocarbon (41 deg API) with a high GOR. This is compounded by an aquifer with water densities as high as 1.25 due to high salt content, which causes both corrosion and halite scale to form on a regular basis, which was treated with fresh water injection. In two of these wells, net oil production was doubled, but more importantly the recovery factor was substantially increased as the higher ESP drawdown mobilised reserves which would not have been produced with gas lift. Finally, the injection gas saved from converting two wells to ESP was sufficient to complete 4 to 5 new wells with gas lift completions. In terms of technology, the main innovation was the use of an ESP digital twin to monitor ESP health in real time, which was particularly useful in managing the transients associated with slugging. An equally noteworthy take-away was how a holistic approach, which integrated reservoir, completions and production engineering provided seamless management from project definition all the way through to execution. Copyright 2020, International Petroleum Technology Conference.
publications-5408 Conference paper 2019 Voronin S.; Davlatov A.; Kosimov B. Development directions of power supply for rural areas of Tajikistan Proceedings - 2019 International Ural Conference on Electrical Power Engineering, UralCon 2019 10.1109/URALCON.2019.8877688 The article discusses the structure of small hydropower plants (HPP) recently built in Tajikistan. The problems arising in the course of their operation are noted. It is proposed to solve these problems to reconsider the HPP structure so that they can be operated in a stand-alone unattended mode, using simple and reliable basic energy conversion elements. The authors suggest using a centrifugal pump as a turbine, without regulating the rotational speed. The absence of a turbine speed regulator containing movable mechanical devices for regulating the flow of water to the turbine will significantly increase its reliability and simplify state diagnostics operations. As a generator, it is suggested using an unregulated synchronous machine with excitation from permanent magnets. The application of a generator consisting of two structurally complete units, a rotor with permanent magnets and a stator with a winding will also increase its reliability, significantly increase the time of interregional checks, simplifying them. The required output voltage quality and high reliability must be provided with a semiconductor converter. In order to diagnose the state of a power plant, it is proposed, in addition to sensors for mechanical, thermal and electrical values, to include in its composition a complete mathematical model, that is, its digital twin and diagnostics to be carried out, including on the basis of comparison of measured actual and received values from a digital twin. The article also shows the problems arising in the implementation of the proposed structure, and ways to solve them. Β© 2019 IEEE.
publications-5409 Conference paper 2020 Jin Y.; Yiew L.J.; Magee A.R.; Zheng Y. System-based modelling of kcs manoeuvring in calm water, current and waves Proceedings of the International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering - OMAE 10.1115/OMAE2020-18625 Maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) require accurate future state projection to initiate collision-avoidance manoeuvres. Forecasts of the vessels' trajectories and motions are fundamentally based on the mathematical manoeuvring model, which is an essential component of their hydrodynamic digital twin nowadays. Using the benchmark container ship KCS as an object of study, this paper adopts a 4-DOF modular-type manoeuvring (MMG) model to predict the vessel trajectories in calm water and under the presence of steady current and regular waves. The current effects are treated as additional ship over water speed, while the wave effects are considered by superimposing the second-order mean wave drift loads to the calm water hull hydrodynamics. The wave drift loads are solved using the potential flow solver WASIM, which is based on Rankine panel method. The computed vessel trajectories and motions are compared with available literature results and show good correlation. Β© 2020 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). All rights reserved.
publications-5410 Conference paper 2019 Fonseca Γ_x008d_.A.; Gaspar H.M. A prime on web-based simulation Proceedings - European Council for Modelling and Simulation, ECMS 10.7148/2019-0023 A web-based approach gives advantages regarding sharing, compatibility, open source development and interactivity of engineering simulations. This work introduces the approach with a simple damped harmonic oscillator, presenting mathematical formulation, numeric solution method and visualization of the results both in graphical and in 3D. Vessel.js, a more advanced JavaScript library, is used to exemplify web-simulations of complex marine engineering problems, such as vessel motion with six degrees of freedom in calm water and vessel motion with mooring lines. A gallery of open source simulation for conceptual ship design and marine engineering is presented, with detailing of three other examples previously developed: motion response of multiple vessels in regular wave, simulation of pendulum motion of a lifted load and simulation of fuel consumption in transit. A next step of the work intends to focus on further development of time-domain models for maritime and subsea operations in general. The paper closes with a call for future digital twin applications to be developed in open web-based platforms. Β©ECMS Mauro Iacono, Francesco Palmieri, Marco Gribaudo, Massimo Ficco (Editors).