CFD Analyses and Experiments in a PAT Modeling: Pressure Variation and System Efficiency

Analysis of a PAT modeling is presented for application in water pipe systems as an interesting and promising energy converter to improve the system energy efficiency. The study is focused on the use of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model in conjunction with laboratory data for representing PAT performance. The first stage of the procedure concerns a systematic analysis of the role played by the characteristic PAT parameters in the computational mesh definitions of the CFD model, with the aim of defining the most efficient set of capturing the main features of the PAT behaviour under different operating conditions. In the second stage, comparisons of CFD results and experiments were carried out to examine some system components for better understanding the PAT response. Specifically, the behavior of the pressure distribution along the PAT installation when implemented in a water pipe system are analyzed, and the links between pressure variation and the head drop in different system components responsible for the head losses and net head definition are also examined.