DNV GL collaboration with University of Sheffield brings new tool to Synergi Water

In order to mitigate and prevent water discolouration in a network, engineers rely on turbidity modelling, predicting how material on pipe walls can enter the water flow.

Turbidity and Discolouration Modelling tool

The new Turbidity and Discolouration Modelling tool in DNV GL’s Synergi Water software now uses the most advanced calculation methods available to increase performance.

The new tool is based on the University of Sheffield’s internationally leading research, which has been implemented and integrated to include full network functionality by DNV GL - Digital Solutions.

“Synergi Water can predict not only where discoloured water may occur but now also the magnitude,” says Are Føllesdal Tjønn, DNV GL . “Water companies can plan more effectively where to flush or replace the pipes, and where they need to take measures during operational activity. Ultimately, the end customers are the beneficiaries, every time they turn on their kitchen taps,” he says.

Other new features include multi-substance water quality modelling, giving users the ability to model the transport and reactions of an unlimited number of interdependent substances. Synergi Water can now also model fluid properties that vary with temperature and can also model heat transfer, especially useful for hydrocarbon modelling.

Synergi Water leads the market in its ability to model complex power contracts, including time of use (TOU) pricing and other user-specified formulas, allowing significant cost savings by pump schedule optimization.

“Synergi Water is at the forefront in market-driven development and we are committed to solving complex modelling problems in the water industry by innovating and leveraging solutions from other industries,” said Tjønn.

Models for erosion and regeneration

The new turbidity and discolouration modelling tool uses two methods for modelling the presence of suspended particulates in water: Prediction of Discolouration in Distribution Systems (PODDS) and Variable Condition Discolouration Model (VCDM). PODDS models short time scale changes in turbidity from erosion of material attached to pipe walls, due to iron corrosion or high mineral content in the source water. VCDM accounts for both erosion and regeneration of material over long time scales. Both methods were developed at the University of Sheffield by a team led by Professor Joby Boxall, who is also the leader of the Pennine Water Group, funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), dedicated to research into water and wastewater.

Synergi Water hydraulic modeling was formerly known as SynerGEE Water. The name was changed due to product alignment after the merger of DNV and GL.