72757 - Advanced Hydrosystems Engineering

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Moduli: Cristiana Bragalli (Modulo 1) Andrea Bolognesi (Modulo 2) Vittorio Di Federico (Modulo 3)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2) Traditional lectures (Modulo 3)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Civil Engineering (cod. 8895)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Environmental Engineering (cod. 8894)

Learning outcomes

A successful learner from this course will be able to: a) deal with the most actual and urgent hydraulic and environmental problems connected with water supplies and drainage systems; design and operate urban water systems, taking into account: i) advanced design procedures and technological findings; ii) environmental and economic issues; and iii) construction site aspects; the b) apply basic modelling and computational techniques for addressing reliability analysis and risk assessment in civil engineering, with special emphasis on the water sector.

Course contents

Requirements/Prior knowledge

A prior knowledge and understanding of calculus, basic probability theory and hydraulics is required to attend with profit this course. Fluent spoken and written English is a necessary pre-requisite: all lectures and tutorials, and all study material will be in English.

 

Course Contents

MODULE 1 - Water Supply Systems

General aspects of water supply systems: sources of potable water, networks layout and components.
Water distribution modeling
Water consumption modeling
Operations and control of water distribution systems
Water quality investigation and modeling
Energy management
Water losses monitoring and control
Design criteria for water supply systems
Optimization techniques applied to water supply systems
Water – energy nexus

Seminar on Design, simulation and management in Water Distribution Network.


MODULE 2 - Urban Drainage Systems
Overview of drainage systems
Planning of urban separate and combined drainage systems
Hydrologic cycle in urban areas
Estimating storm runoff and domestic sewage design discharges
Traditional and advanced design of urban drainage systems
Water quality issues in urban areas
Detention ponds and first flush tanks
Operation and maintenance of urban drainage systems


MODULE 3 - Uncertainty & Risk in Hydraulic Systems

1) Introduction. Syllabus. Objectives. Starting definitions on risk and uncertainty, also applied to hydrosystems. Introduction to risk analysis. Introductory concepts in probability theory. Conditional probability.

2) Reliability. Reliability measures. State variable. Time to failure. Reliability function. Mean time to failure distributions: exponential and Weibull. Failures, failure classification, failure causes classification. Failure modes: pump, water tap, further examples. Reparable systems. Repair probability, density and rate. Mean time to repair. Availability. Mean time between failures. System reliability: series and parallel configuration. Redundancy. Example calculations. Overview of techniques in reliability analysis: RBA, FT, MC. Pipe breaks and reliability analysis of a water supply system.

3) FMECA: Failure Modes, Effects, and Criticality Analysis model. Overview, purpose, approaches, main steps. FMECA: system structure analysis and worksheets. Risk priority numbers and criticality analysis. Severity, occurrence, and detection classifications. Application to pumping stations.

4) FTA. FTA main steps. FTA preparation. Boundary conditions, assumptions and limitations. FTA construction and logic symbols. Identification of top event. Adding events. Examples. Boolean algebra. Boolean operations, functions and expressions. Duality. Laws of boolean algebra. Rules of boolean algebra. Logic gates. Exercises on Boolean algebra. Fault tree analysis structure. Applications. Minimal cutsets. Properties of cut sets. Cut set examples. Finding cut sets: top-down and bottom-up approaches. Importance measures. Calculation of probability of failure and importance measures. Application of FTA to groundwater contamination.

5) Seminars on Reliability and Uncertainty Quantification in Environmental Modeling.

Readings/Bibliography

T. M. WALSKY, D.V. CHASE, D.A. SAVIC Water distribution modeling, 1st Edition, Heasted press, 2001.
D. BUTLER, J. W. DAVIES Urban Drainage, 3rd Edition, Spon press, 2011.
Y.-K- TUNG, B.C. YEN, C. S. MALCHING Hydrosystems Engineering Reliability Assessment and Risk Analysis, , Mc Graw Hill, 2005

Teaching methods

Lectures, tutorials, expert seminars and laboratory visits. In-class exercises and home assignments, including spreadsheets/computer programming and use of specific software.

The contents of Module 2 and 3 are entirely covered by the lectures. For the Module 1 the lectures are integrated with chapters of the indicated bibliography and some papers.

Assessment methods

Achievements will be assessed by means of a final exam. This is based on an analytical assessment of the "expected learning outcomes" described above.

The final grade of the class Advanced Hydrosystems Engineering (AHE) is given by the weighted average of Modules 1, 2 and 3.

The examination of Module 1 (Water Distribution Systems) and Module 2 (Urban Drainage Systems) is composed of three different sections: i) homeworks; ii) written exam (without the aid of notes or books); iii) oral colloquium. The written test consists in open questions and short exercises. In the oral colloquium, the student discusses the written test result and answers to additional questions. The homeworks are explained and assigned during the lectures and their delivery is required in order to take part to the written examination of Module 1 and 2.

The examination of Module 3 (uncertainty and risk in hydraulic systems) is composed of two different sections: i) homework; ii) written exam.

The homework is assigned during the lectures and is verified at the end of the course. The final written exam is administered at the end of the semester and will assess the knowledge of the topics covered in the course.

The homework consists of two separate assignments, one on FMECA, and the other on FTA of a hydraulic system. Each assignment is scored separately, and the average is taken to derive the homework's mark.

The written exam, which consist of a test, duration 2 hours, is composed of 5 groups of questions, including: a) short or multiple choice questions; b) Boolean algebra; c) reliability block diagram; d) conceptual question on availability/reliability/pipe breaks; e) FTA analysis including importance measures; each question scores from 1 to 12 points, maximum total score is 32.

Higher grades will be awarded to students who demonstrate a physical understanding of the subject, high quantiative skills, and a clear and concise presentation of the contents.

To obtain a passing grade, students are required to at least demonstrate a knowledge of the key concepts of the subject, some quantitative skills, and a comprehensible use of technical language.

A failing grade will be awarded if the student shows knowledge gaps in key-concepts of the subject, scarce physical understanding, and no quantitative skills.


Teaching tools

Slides, presentations and lecture notes on the topics covered during the course, published in AMS Campus - AlmaDL University of Bologna, and computer codes for the development of the exercises will be available.

Module 1 - Water Supply Systems
codice di calcolo EPANET - Hydraulic and Water Quality Behavior of Water Distribution Piping Systems
http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html

Module 2 - Urban Drainage Systems
codice di calcolo SWMM (Storm Water Management Model)
http://www.epa.gov/athens/wwqtsc/html/swmm.html


Office hours

See the website of Cristiana Bragalli

See the website of Andrea Bolognesi

See the website of Vittorio Di Federico