Author(s): Tianyi Xu; Xiaosheng Qin
Linked Author(s): Xiaosheng Qin
Keywords: Multi-reservoir operation; Water supply; Uncertainty; Stochastic robust optimization; Water conservation measures
Abstract: Effective planning of urban water supply-demand system is important to help identify optimal water supply scheme to allocate limited water resources to competing users. However, there exist many complexities in a water supply-demand system, such as the conflict between scarcity of water sources and water demands, the relationship among multiple water sources, and uncertainties linked with water availability caused by hydrological variations and water demand due to changes of population and water consumption rates. All these would lead to difficulties in solving the related optimization models. This study aims to apply stochastic robust optimization model to seek optimal multiple reservoir operations under uncertainty. The approach is advantageous in addressing random variables existing in the study system, and generating a set of solutions which reflects the trade-off among system economy, stability and feasibility. A multi-reservoir operation case was used for methodology demonstration, where three reservoirs were delivering water to an urban area. The parameters associated with water sources availability are expressed as random variables with discrete distribution. The results indicated that the proposed approach could obtain robust solutions of the model and help decision makers analyze the balance among expected benefit, deviation of benefit, and risk of constraint violation.
Year: 2013