Physical controls in the simulation of hydraulic networks in buildings using Epanet 2.0 software

Abstract

Water supply and distribution are an important design criterion in building construction. For this it is necessary to make an analysis of hydraulic networks, which is generally done through conventional methods based on iterative processes in spreadsheets. However, the Epanet 2.0 software can serve as an analysis method through simulation that is not currently considered for these applications, while such software is not a conventional method, it holds the possibility of being a model which through physical controls can serve as a simulator for hydraulic networks with the hypothesis that it can optimize costs and solution times. Therefore, the research has as purpose the application of physical controls for the analysis of the hydraulic networks in buildings by means of the software. For this reason, a design of the hydraulic network calculated by the modified Hunter model was executed and compared with the simulation in the software. The results obtained from the study demonstrated effectiveness of the software with a minimum percentage of error (0.24% to 1.06%) from one method to another, achieving to optimize calculation times and the economy of designs.