Life cycle determination of water distribution system using life cycle energy analysis

【When designing Water Distribution System (WDS), determination of life cycle for WDS needs to be preceded. And designer should conduct comprehensive design including maintenance and management strategies based on the determined life cycle. However, there are only a few studies carried out until now, and criteria to determine life cycle of WDS are insufficient. Therefore, methodology to determine life cycle of WDS is introduced in this study by using Life Cycle Energy Analysis (LCEA). LCEA adapts energy as an environmental impact criterion and calculates all required energy through the whole life cycle. The model is build up based on the LCEA methodology and model itself can simulate the aging and breakage of pipes through the target life cycle. In addition the hydraulic analysis program EPANET2.0 is linked to developed model to analyze hydraulic factors. Developed model is applied to two WDSs which are A WDS and B WDS. Model runs for 1yr to maximum 100yr target life cycle for both WDSs to check the energy tendency as well as to determine optimal life cycle. Results show that 40yr and 54yr as optimal life cycle for each WDS, and tendency shows the effective energy is keep changing according to the target life cycle. Introduced methodology is expected to use as an alternative option for determining life cycle of WDS.】