SBIR-STTR Award

In this proposal, Global Quality Corp., in collaboration with researchers from University of Cincinnati and Wright State University, proposes to develop NetSafe –a systemwide simulation software for predictive simulation of the fate and transport of chemical and biological agents in DWDS. Based on real-time hydraulic and water quality measurements, NetSafe will be capable of reliably identifying the presence of chemical and biological agents and predicting the transport of such contaminants in DWDS for vulnerability analysis and optimal emergency response. NetSafe will convert various recent research efforts to commercial grade software components inside a robust integration framework. The proposed methodology is based on research work conducted by the team in the recent two years and has the following advantages. First, a novel contaminant detection method combining local information with valuable systemwide information is employed to improve detection performance. Second, the proposed backtracking based contaminant source identification algorithm is computationally efficient and suitable for real-world applications. Third, our in-house EPANET multi species extension (MSX) software tools are capable of modeling different physicochemical mechanisms and offers great flexibility for water quality modeling. Fourth, hydraulic models are calibrated online to improve modeling accuracy.

Keywords:
Water Distribution System Modeling, Chemical And Biological Agents, Contaminant Fate And Transport, Multi-Species Extension (Msx), Sensor Placement, Contaminant Source Identif

The Phase II R&D will create a set of water distribution system monitoring and modeling software components (NetSafe V2) that can be used to create a new contaminant warning system (CWS) or to augment an existing one. These components will be field-tested at the US Army Ft. Drum facility, and will be integrated into existing SCADA and GIS. The feasibility of the innovative approaches behind these components was established during Phase I through the development of NetSafe V1, a Windows-based software. NetSafe couples the powerful concept of model-based anomaly detection with use of relatively inexpensive water quality sensors to reliably identify the presence of chemical and biological agents. The hydraulic model will be continuously refined through real-time calibration using SCADA data. Once the actual composition of an agent is determined through other means, NetSafe can trace the forward transport of that contaminant, using the EPANET multi species extension (MSX), for vulnerability analysis and optimal emergency response. The MSX software component is capable of modeling complex physicochemical mechanisms and offers great flexibility. NetSafe also leverages the particle backtracking based contaminant source identification (CSA) algorithm to display the multiple possible sources as one rewinds back into history starting from an event.

Keywords:
Water Distribution System Modeling, Chemical And Biological Agents, Contaminant Fate And Transport, Model-Based Anomaly Detection, Sensor Placement, Contaminant Source Identif