Hydraulic Analysis of Water Distribution Network Using Shuffled Complex Evolution

Hydraulic analysis of water distribution networks is an important problem in civil engineering. A widely used approach in steady-state analysis of water distribution networks is the global gradient algorithm (GGA). However, when the GGA is applied to solve these networks, zero flows cause a computation failure. On the other hand, there are different mathematical formulations for hydraulic analysis under pressure-driven demand and leakage simulation. This paper introduces an optimization model for the hydraulic analysis of water distribution networks using a metaheuristic method called shuffled complex evolution (SCE) algorithm. In this method, applying if-then rules in the optimization model is a simple way in handling pressure-driven demand and leakage simulation, and there is no need for an initial solution vector which must be chosen carefully in many other procedures if numerical convergence is to be achieved. The overall results indicate that the proposed method has the capability of handling various pipe networks problems without changing in model or mathematical formulation. Application of SCE in optimization model can lead to accurate solutions in pipes with zero flows. Finally, it can be concluded that the proposed method is a suitable alternative optimizer challenging other methods especially in terms of accuracy

The Effects of Environmental Factors on Biological Remediation of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil

Among the consequences of discharging industrial wastes to land and water bodies, is the widespread accumulation and migration of toxic chemical mixtures in soil and groundwater resources. It is believed that the accumulation of contaminants in the environment constitutes a serious threat to ecological and human health. Bioremediation is an effective measure in dealing with such contaminations particularly those from petroleum hydrocarbon sources; moreover bioremediation is emerging as a promising technology for the treatment of soil and groundwater contamination. Therefore the goal of this study is discussing the theory and practice of biological remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated soils and assessing the effects of operational conditions and parameters such as: temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration and  pH on the removal rate of the target contaminant which is handled in the designed reactor. Due to large production and consumption rate of diesel fuel inIran and many other countries, diesel fuel has been selected as target contaminant. In this study TOC and COD testing methods have been used to measure and assess the removal rate of the contaminant in the reactor. The experimental results indicate that, considering the operational conditions the indigenous microorganisms which have been separated from the soil are able to remove 50 to 83 percent of the contaminant after 30 days. Thereafter on the base of the results and considering the laboratorial specifications and conditions applied in this project, the optimum values of temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration andpH were respectively determined as 35°C, 4mg/L and 7