Optimization of pumping efficiency for hydraulic installations

Abstract

The main purpose of this master thesis is to optimize the operation of variable speed pumps in a system installed to supply water to a water deposit or convey it through a canal. To do so, a Matlab code that models the operation is used to do the simulations. This code was already programmed before the starting of this thesis, and every modification during this work is done over this original code. The model presents a system where a fixed speed pump, with an electric motor, pumps a certain volume of water from one tank to another. From its initial form, which works at nominal speed of the electric motor, the model will be modified in order to increase the global efficiency of the system. This improvement will mainly come from increasing the pumping efficiency by implementing a variable speed pump. To do so, an optimization of the global system is performed. The results observed with the optimized model greatly outperformed the original model in terms of efficiency, but the duration of the process increased dramatically. After these results, other systems are modelled in order to have alternative systems that can operate faster but maintaining high efficiency. The first solution proposed consists on substituting the original pump by a lager one. This system ended up with relative high efficiency but the system remained quite slow. The other alternative studied is the implementation of two pumps in parallel, with one working at optimal speed and the other providing the remaining flow necessary to pump the same volume of water as the original system in the same time. This was satisfactory, as the system obtained performed rapidly and with good levels of efficiency. All the results from the different models studied during this work are compared, and the strong points and weaknesses from each model are exposed. This is done so that the different models developed during this work can be simulated for a specific real application and know which one works better for the installation.