Dynamically Adaptive and Resilient Water Supply Networks for a Sustainable Future

通过这项奖学金，我的目标是开发基本的科学方法，用于设计，优化和控制下一代弹性供水网络，动态适应其连接（拓扑结构），水力条件和运营目标。动态自适应供水网络可以响应于运行条件、性能目标、需求增加和故障的变化来修改其状态。这是一类新的工程（网络物理）系统，它以整体方式将联合收割机物理过程与计算控制相结合，以实现动态适应性、弹性、效率和可持续性。由于人口增长和城市化，供水公司面临着对饮用水日益增长的需求。城市正达到前所未有的规模和复杂性，安全用水的可靠供应是一项全球环境安全挑战。迫切需要新的技术和知识来应对环境、监管和财政压力。传感器和控制技术、无线通信和数据管理的最新进展使我们能够对复杂的供水网络的运行及其控制获得非凡的见解。需要新的模拟和优化方法来利用有关大型供水系统动态的新知识以及控制其运行的能力，以提高资源和资产利用率。在开拓和领导一个广泛的动态自适应供水网络应用研究计划的过程中，我已经确定了如何设计，改造，建模和管理这些复杂系统的基本数学和工程挑战，以同时或顺序解决多个业务应用。例如，可以优化管网管理，以减少泄漏、改善水质和加强事故响应。此外，开发一个强大的可扩展的仿真和控制系统是极具挑战性的，由于中到大规模的供水系统的计算任务的复杂性。该研究计划将调查，开发和验证一种新的分析和强大的计算框架，用于自适应供水网络的并行设计，操作和控制，动态配置其连接性（拓扑结构），水力条件和运营目标。建议的框架应同时优化设计（例如，先进网络控制器和监控设备的放置）和操作控制（例如，阀门和泵的功能和设置的最佳选择）。这种协同设计方法还考虑了水力学、不确定性、环境变化以及网络可操作性和可控性的数学优化方法的开发，以便有效、智能和可持续地管理复杂供水系统的运行。 这是一项雄心勃勃的变革性研究计划，需要解决水系统工程、应用数学、控制工程、网络物理系统和传感器研究等多个学科的众多问题。该奖学金将为我提供一个独特的机会，奉献我的大部分时间来开发，验证和冠军付诸实践的设计和控制方法，动态自适应，弹性和可持续的供水网络。

Through this Fellowship, I aim to develop fundamental scientific methods for the design, optimisation and control of next generation resilient water supply networks that dynamically adapt their connectivity (topology), hydraulic conditions and operational objectives. A dynamically adaptive water supply network can modify its state in response to changes in the operational conditions, performance objectives, an increase in demand and a failure. This is a new category of engineering (cyber-physical) systems that combine physical processes with computational control in a holistic way in order to achieve dynamic adaptability, resilience, efficiency and sustainability. Water utilities are facing an increasing demand for potable water as a result of population growth and urbanisation. Cities are reaching unprecedented scale and complexity and the reliable provision of safe water is a global environmental security challenge. New technologies and knowledge are urgently needed to meet environmental, regulatory and financial pressures. Recent advances in sensor and control technologies, wireless communication and data management allow us to gain extraordinary insights into the operation of complex water supply networks and their control. Novel simulation and optimisation methods are required to make use of the new knowledge about the dynamics of large-scale water supply systems and the ability to control their operation in order to improve resource and asset utilisation. In the course of pioneering and leading an extensive programme of applied research in dynamically adaptive water supply networks, I have identified fundamental mathematical and engineering challenges of how such complex systems should be designed, retrofitted, modelled and managed in order to address multiple operational applications either simultaneously or sequentially. For example, the network management can be optimised to reduce leakage, improve water quality and enhance incident response. Furthermore, developing a robustly scalable simulation and control system is extremely challenging due to the complexity of the computational tasks for medium to large-scale water supply systems. This research programme will investigate, develop and validate a novel analytical and robust computational framework for the concurrent design, operation and control of adaptive water supply networks that dynamically configure their connectivity (topology), hydraulic conditions and operational objectives. The proposed framework should simultaneously optimise the design (e.g. placements of advanced network controllers and monitoring devices) and the operational control (e.g. the optimal selection of functions and settings for the valves and pumps). This co-design approach also considers the hydraulic dynamics, uncertainties, environmental changes and the development of mathematical optimisation methods for network operability and controllability in order to manage the operation of complex water supply systems efficiently, intelligently and sustainably. This is an ambitious and transformative research programme that requires solving numerous problems spanning several disciplines in water systems engineering, applied mathematics, control engineering, cyber-physical systems and sensors research. The Fellowship will provide me with a unique opportunity to dedicate most of my time to develop, validate and champion into practice the design and control methods for dynamically adaptive, resilient and sustainable water supply networks.