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Prof. Dr. Gabriele Freni

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School of Engineering and Architecture, University of Enna “Kore”, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna, Italy
Interests: integrated urban water systems; wastewater treatment plant management and optimization; advanced water treatment; oily and salty water treatment; energy management in integrated water systems
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Dr. Mariacrocetta Sambito

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Engineering Department, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: water and energy balance in water services; life cycle cost analysis; best management practices; low impact development; integrated water system; sensor network design; water quality; optimization techniques; advanced numerical modelling; contaminations; illicit discharges; Bayesian algorithm
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recovery and saving of water and energy in infrastructures involves various engineering sectors (hydraulic and hydrological, geotechnical, transport, etc.). Furthermore, it affects all stages of the infrastructure life: from planning and design, to management and decommissioning and monitoring. Engineering oriented to sustainability is a recent and promising research area. Interest is growing in adopting a sustainable perspective in these fields. This Special Issue welcomes research papers that discuss the possibility of integrating sustainability principles inside engineering, dealing with specific and general methods (monitoring and assessment techniques) and approaches (models, decision support tools, management actions, policy insights, and governance) that provide insight into the status, design, management, and restoration to optimize infrastructures from a water and energy point of view. We also welcome literature reviews and empirical papers. Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Dr. Gabriele Freni
Dr. Mariacrocetta Sambito
Guest Editors

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Keywords

recovery energy
saving energy
water losses
water management
best management practice
low Impact development
carbon footprint
sustainability engineering

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 20127 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Stochastic Approach for Optimal Positioning of Pumps As Turbines (PATs)

by Mariacrocetta Sambito, Stefania Piazza and Gabriele Freni

Sustainability 2021, 13(21), 12318; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su132112318 - 08 Nov 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 1356

Abstract

A generic water system consists of a series of works that allow the collection, conveyance, storage and finally the distribution of water in quantities and qualities such as to satisfy the needs of end users. In places characterized by high altitude differences between the intake works and inhabited centres, the potential energy of the water is very high. This energy is attributable to high pressures, which could compromise the functionality of the pipelines; it is therefore necessary to dissipate part of this energy. A common alternative to dissipation is the possibility of exploiting this energy by inserting a hydraulic turbine. The present study aims to evaluate the results obtained from a stochastic approach for the solution of the multi-objective optimization problem of PATs (Pumps As Turbines) in water systems. To this end, the Bayesian Monte Carlo optimisation method was chosen for the optimization of three objective functions relating to pressure, energy produced and plant costs. The case study chosen is the Net 3 literature network available in the EPANET software manual. The same problem was addressed using the NSGA-III (Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm) to allow comparison of the results, since the latter is more commonly used. The two methods have different peculiarities and therefore perform better in different contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Use of Water and Energy Resources in Infrastructure)

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15 pages, 2423 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating the Economic Level of Water Losses (ELWL) in the Water Distribution System of the City of Malang, Indonesia

by Tri Heryanto, Saroj K. Sharma, D. Daniel and Maria Kennedy

Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6604; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13126604 - 09 Jun 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2689

Abstract

All of the possible strategies to reduce water losses in piped distribution systems follow the law of diminishing returns: the higher the expenditure on water loss reduction, the lower the progressive return in terms of water saved. Therefore, water utilities need to estimate the economic level of water losses (ELWL) so that they can reduce their water loss to the level where the cost to reduce the water losses is equal to the value of the water saved. This paper aims to estimate the ELWL using four different methods: the total cost method, the marginal cost method, the cumulative cost–benefit method, and the component-based methods. This analysis is based on data (2011–2016) on the water utilities of the city of Malang (PDAM Kota Malang), Indonesia. It was found that the total cost and marginal cost methods gave almost similar results for ELWL. However, the total cost method is preferred to calculate ELWL because it is the most accurate, easier to apply, and does not need a long data series. In addition, the estimated ELWL for PDAM Kota Malang was 21.76%, which is 3.71% higher than the water loss level estimated in 2016, which means that their strategies to reduce water loss are not cost-efficient. Moreover, the lack of data is a major challenge in the estimation of ELWL in Indonesia. This study emphasizes the importance of estimating the ELWL so that water utilities, especially in Indonesia, can evaluate their strategies in reducing water loss and improving their cost-effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Use of Water and Energy Resources in Infrastructure)

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