Real-time Automation of Water Supply and Distribution for the City of Jacksonville, Florida, USA (特集 シミュレーション技術)

JEA’s Operation Optimization System (OOS) project is an important advance in real-time water supply and distribution system automation. The challenge in implementation was to draw a balance between the theory and practice of forecasting, modelling, simulation and optimization. The result is a highly practical realization of the AWWA EWQMS model that can be refined in an evolutionary manner to achieve greater energy efficiency. The architectures, development methodology and integration capabilities are best-of-breed for this type of application. The system meets the goal of representing the expertise of JEA’s best operators, and provides a solid foundation for extensions to enhance messaging, diagnostics and integration with other JEA software systems. The OOS is expected to result in an enhanced work environment for plant operations personnel. The largest immediate payback achieved by the OOS, as demonstrated, is capital cost reduction. Additional benefits include chemicals and energy savings, improved water quality and many intangible benefits. This project has demonstrated that optimized control results in better use of capital assets. The early success of the OOS has enabled JEA to defer the drilling and equipping of one well, which averages $1.4 million. A return on investment analysis conducted for this project shows that payback is less than one year.