Magdalene Marinaki and Markos Papageorgiou

Dynamic Systems and Simulation Laboratory,
^{Technical University of Crete, 73100 Chania, Greece,
markos@dssl.tuc.gr}

Abstract

The problem of optimal water distribution to several retention reservoirs in an urban sewer network during rainfall is considered. The goal of the control actions is the minimization of overflows and eventually the reduction of their polluting impact on receiving waters. To this end, a linear multivariable feedback regulator is developed via a systematic design procedure, including a simplified model, a quadratic minimization criterion and subsequent application of the linear-quadratic optimization method. Inflow predictions are accommodated via suitable feedforward terms in the control law. The presented control design guidelines facilitate a quick and efficient regulator design for a broad class of sewer network control problems. Simulation tests for a particular large network and various inflow scenarios indicate significant overflow reductions achieved by the application of the LQ-regulator.