Pressure Management System

The “Pressure Management System” project is multidisciplinary and involves three beneficiaries who have grouped themselves into a Temporary Association of Vertical Type Companies. The participating companies are: BITCONTROL s.r.l., VETTORELLO s.r.l. and LAYER ELECTRONICS s.r.l. BitControl plays the role of leader and coordinator of the Pressure Management System project. Both scientific and technical coordination activities are carried out by Eng. Roberto Gueli, who is the project manager. In addition, BitControl exclusively carries out the research activities referred to in OR8 and OR9, while the other two beneficiaries carry out the activities from OR1 to OR7.

The aim of the project is the prototyping of a new cross-flow turbine with pressure discharge for the hydraulic management of the aqueducts and the simultaneous hydroelectric production, called Pressure Management System (PMS). The project is aimed at creating an industrial product optimized in its main components. The PMS system can be inserted inside the pipeline by simply replacing a small section of the same inside an existing control room, an operation similar to the installation of a simple line valve. Hydroelectric production will allow the powering of a remote control system, able to regulate the PMS system and provide real-time information on the operating conditions of the network. The electrical and mechanical adjustment of the PMS system will allow to modify the characteristic curve of the machine and therefore the relationship between the swirled flow rate and the pressure drop.

The PMS can operate in two modes, called passive (MP) and active (MA). In passive mode, the TDC will be adjusted to reach the desired pressure jump and set remotely, in correspondence with a flow rate determined by the water demand of the user; in active mode, the TDC will be adjusted to obtain the assigned flow rate remotely, returning the indication of the corresponding pressure jump, if the pressure downstream of the delivery pipeline is known, as in the case of the outlet of aqueducts in free-flowing tanks. The PMS can also be used for stand-alone operation and the energy supply of water systems not connected to the electricity network and will also be equipped with safety systems that maintain the pressure regulation function (in passive mode) or the flow rate (in active mode) even in the presence of accidental disconnection of the electrical load.