Fully automated design of small diameter pipes

PWN has outsourced the design of pipes in the network to contractors. When a new area is being developed a contractor designs the location of the new pipes and pipe diameters and verifies if the pipe dimensions comply with PWN’s requirements. This process consists of multiple manual steps and has several opportunities to reduce time, efforts and related costs, while increasing the quality of the designs.

Client: PWN
Country: the Netherlands
Period: 2024

Approach and solution
The idea for SI-Design came when the technical team of Spatial Inasight finalised the development of SI-Blueprint for and with WML. SI-Blueprint calaculated the optimal pipe diameter for existing pipes. An algorithm was constructed that designs the optimal route from the secondary pipes to the water meters that need to be connected and hydrants in the area. The definition of the development area is very simple and intuitive by drawing a polygon on a map. The algorithm finds the optimal route through the area and the smallest possible pipe diamaters while meeting requirements for pressure and flow.

We explicitly chose to keep the designed in-the-loop of the process. He or she can either define a first route of the tertiary pipe(s) or can ask the software to make an initial proposal. After each eventual adjustment, the software will re-run and to optimise the design again.

SI-design draws pipes in the selected area and allow engineers to change details in the design.

Contribution to the organisation’s strategy
[will follow soon]

Customer review

[will follow soon]

CONTACT

Janneke Moors
Data scientist
HR responsible

+31 6 4219 7867

"I am really excited about the opportunities automated design can give a company"

All use cases