TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN:A TEAM OF researchers from Trinity College Dublin and Bangor University in Wales has been awarded €500,000 in EU funding to develop a new energy-efficient water supply technology.
They aim to reduce the overall energy consumption of the water supply system by using excess pressure in the system locally or selling it back to the grid.
At the same time, the system also aims to reduce the associated carbon emissions and operating costs.
Treated water is commonly supplied to a community from a central storage reservoir by gravity throughout a catchment and this water must be supplied within satisfactory pressure bands.
Where the pressure in water flow becomes too high, a break pressure tank (BPT) is commonly installed in the network. Through it the pressure, kinetic and potential energy within the flow is dissipated into the atmosphere.
These tanks present an opportunity to recover energy from water supply networks using a hydropower turbine system, producing electricity and improving the sustainability of the network without interfering with the water supply service.
In this way, the researchers aim to develop a new Hydro-BPT technology.
“This new technology could result in the reduction of water supply or metering charges for individual customers with a direct positive impact on households financially,” said Dr Aonghus McNabola of Trinity College Dublin’s school of engineering.