Teaching Approaches to Select Economical Pipe Diameters in Pumping Systems

Abstract

Pumping systems are a topic of great relevance in the teaching of civil and environmental engineering courses related to urban water infrastructure. One key component of this teaching is the diameter selection of transmission mains in drinking water systems. This selection process includes a number of considerations which should lead the engineering student to select a technically feasible option that minimizes anticipated construction costs of the transmission main as well the energy-related expenditures. This work presented two different teaching approaches to help students acccelerate the selection process of transmission main diameters in the context of drinking water systems. These approaches include an analytical approach and a direct cost calculation approach, and consider time-varying water demand evolution based on the operation of the pumping system. An application involving a relatively simple diameter-selection problem using these two approaches was presented, along with ideas on how the method can be improved.