Optimal control of a storage reservoir during a flood season

✍ Scribed by O. Levin

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1969
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 752 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0005-1098
• DOI: 10.1016/0005-1098(69)90051-x

✦ Synopsis

The author presents an analytic method for determining optimal operating rules for outflow regulation from a water-supply reservoir during the flood season.

Sunmaary--The control problem considered is that of regulating the spills from a reservoir of a water-supply system during flood periods.

Inflow into the reservoir is of a stochastic nature and varies seasonally throughout the year. During some of the winter months, considerable amounts of water are expected to enter the reservoir over short periods, and unless the water level is sufficiently low at the beginning of the flood, there is danger of an overflow and serious damage. The most effective means for preventing such a situation is deliberate spilling of some of the stored water in advance and the object of control is to minimize water losses due to such spills, while keeping the level of risk of an overflow below a certain probability.

The mathematical model is analyzed with the aid of a Markov decision process. Its solution yields rules for continuous control of the outflow as a function of time, water level, and any other available information on the state of the system. Some details on a practical application are included.