FUZZY LOGIC BASED OPTIMUM PENSTOCK DESIGN: ELASTIC WATER COLUMN THEORY APPROACH

Shock wave or surge events are disturbances in the water caused during a change in state, typically from one steady or equilibrium condition to another. The principle components of the disturbances are head pressure and flow changes at a point that causes propagation of pressure waves throughout the distribution system. The larger the magnitude of the velocity change and the larger the magnitude of the wave speed, the greater the change in head-pressure will be. Many factors related to small hydro power (SHP) water conveyance system or penstock design are subjective and difficult to quantify. Hence fuzzy logic can be one of the most powerful design decision making method of shock wave or shock wave or surge analysis of penstock. To the best of the authors knowledge this novel Fuzzy Logic approach of optimum water conveyance system or penstock designing by shock wave analysis for small hydro power generation is absent in renewable energy or fluid mechanics literatures due to its assessment complexity.