SCADAConnect Simulator - Pipe Shutdowns

Pipe shutdowns enable the user to shut down a portion of the distribution system and simulate the results of doing so. The user can reach pipe shutdown simulation from the Home tab or Emergency Response tab of the SCADAConnect Simulator.

Pick the New button at the top of the Active Pipe Shutdowns dialog. This opens a row in the dialog shown below where the user can describe the shutdown.

The Enabled? column indicates that this shutdown is included in the scenario being run. The shutdown pipe is the pipe to isolate. The user is prompted with a Select from Drawing dialog. The pipe shutdown simulation divides the duration of the run into the following time periods:

Time after isolation start during isolation duration when isolated pipes have no flow and isolated nodes have no demand
Time after isolation duration when flows return to values from baseline scenario

To define these times, the user must specify isolation start date and time, and shutdown duration.

The pipe must be isolated for repair or other maintenance. To do this the user can either manually specify the valves and pipes to close or have the model pick the valves to close.

Manually picking the valves involves using the Select from Drawing toolbar button which will allow manual selection of the elements to close. Instead the user may wish to let the software decide which valves to close to isolate the pipe. This can be achieved by clicking the Auto-Isolate button. The software will then populate the list of elements to close with those necessary to isolate the pipe. At any time, the user can choose to manually modify the automatically selected list and/or make additional manual selections. If it is known in advance that a particular valve or valves are not valid for isolation (perhaps a valve is known to be stuck open, or a particular control valve should not be closed for operational reasons) then the user may specify these elements by clicking the ellipsis button to the right of Elements to Exclude and selecting those elements. The next Auto-Isolation run will look for alternative valves to close.

Once the valves have been selected, the user can choose the highlight button (fourth button and on by default) to display the isolation.

If there are no isolation or other valves in the model in that part of the system, the user can select pipe elements to close. It is up to the user to ensure that these pipes do have sufficient valves to accomplish this isolation.

During the time that the shutdown is isolated, the flows in pipes in that area are zero and the demands are zero. The hydraulic grade and pressure in the isolated area will not have valid results.