Extensive, whole system, hydraulic modeling and simulation capabilities for the water sector (surface run-off, sewer system, water supply)

Summary

A German SME is interested in joining a EU research consortium. The SME will provide innovative modeling and simulation software and services for domestic and industrial water supply and sanitation. Fully coupled hydraulic models of sewer systems, surface flow, watercourses, and water-supply networks are possible. Modelling of resource and energy recovery, transport and chemical reactions of dissolved substances can be included. The SME is looking for research and technical cooperations.

Description

The German SME has more than 30 years of experience in software and procedure development for urban water management, hydrology, and hydraulics. The company has a long history of cooperation with leading national and international universities and scientific institutions regarding research and development of modeling, simulation, calculation, and analysis tools and methods within the field of urban water management. It is known for groundbreaking solutions and the employment of cutting-edge computational technology in developing IT-systems for water infrastructure management. The company's main product is a modular software environment that covers virtually all aspects of urban water management. It is a comprehensive yet flexible Geographical Information System (GIS), knowledge base, and administration tool for urban water management that allows for fully coupled hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, simulation, and evaluation of water infrastructures, like sewer systems, permanent surface run-off (including rivers and smaller bodies of flowing water), as well as storm-water and flash flood-related run-off, temporary, man-made and natural watercourses and surface retention areas, in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas. Hydraulic simulations can be augmented by transport and chemical reaction simulations of dissolved chemical substances of natural and anthropogenic origin. During involvement in a previous German national research project, the software has been extended by modeling capabilities for decentralized recovery and recycling facilities for water (in various purification levels: "fit for purpose"), energy, and materials (e.g., nutrients, organic matter, biogas, etc.) from the wastewater stream. The system is thus a suitable platform for scientific analysis, evaluation, and updating of sanitation systems in combination with water supply networks to meet upcoming societal challenges such as climate change and demographic developments. Planning of sanitation and water supply infrastructure for newly developed areas can also be performed. Additionally, novel ideas and approaches can be simulated and thus investigated and evaluated for detailed models of entire cities or large rural areas. The main software products are constantly extended and updated – new developments are often the product of the company's participation in research activities.

Very recent fields of interest of the SME are industrial symbiosis analyses focused on fit-for-purpose water streams; detailed storm-water protection analyses of industrial areas, modelling run-off on, in and between buildings coupled with relevant sewerage infrastructure, identifying and evaluating possible mitigation measures. But the central area of interest and current new development within the SME is the analysis of transport pathways, decay, reaction, deposition, and remobilization of pollutant loads in surface run-off.

The SME is particularly interested in the call „HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-03: Preventing and managing diffuse pollution in urban water runoff”. They are looking for a project coordinator or an existing consortium willing to submit a proposal under this call or any other EU-program dealing with water, water management and sanitation/water supply infrastructures. Therefore, the SME is looking for a research cooperation agreement.

Additionaly, the SME is looking for technical cooperation to further develop their software and their new development within the company, e.g. the analysis of transport pathways and remobilization of pollutant loads in surface run-off.

Advantages & innovations

- All relevant components of the urban water cycle (2D surface run-off, sewer-systems (incl. real-time control), rivers and streams, water supply networks, decentralized treatment and recovery facilities) can be simulated in one, highly complex model in a fully coupled manner. - Despite its completeness and complexity, the software's user-interface as well as import/export capabilities makes models nevertheless easy to create, handle and manage. - Additionally, a seamlessly integrated, powerful 3D visualization tool based on a state-of-the-art graphics engine allows for an intuitive grasp of surface models, infrastructure elements and planning variants. - Due to the inclusion of modeling capabilities for decentralized treatment, recovery and water management facilities, as well as full support for multiple sewerage and utility-water streams, the tight connection between water supply and sanitation / water recovery can be simulated and synergies can be discovered and exploited. - In combination with transport and reaction simulations of chemical substances, also the inter-linkage between various water cycles, energy cycles as well as nutrient and fertilizer / food cycles can be modeled, simulated and evaluated. - During a project, purpose-built software and/or extensions to existing software products will be developed especially for the consortium and its members - within the framework and constraints of the project. This provides potential partners with the possibility to have their own specific ideas cast into extensions to an existing and widely used state-of-the-art water management and simulation tool, which considerably increases dissemination and visibility of those ideas and ensuing results. - The company's software systems are self-contained and need neither an underlying database system nor a third-party GIS, as each functionality is provided by the company's software package itself.

Stage of development

Already on the market

Partner sought

The company is looking for a project coordinator or an existing consortium willing to submit a proposal under „HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-03: Preventing and managing diffuse pollution in urban water runoff” or any other EU-program dealing with water, water management (including storm water and pluvial flash floods) and sanitation/water supply infrastructures. The company seeks to join the consortium as a full partner responsible for modeling and simulation, software development and usage, as well as method development, where applicable. Also various kinds of sub-contracts with EU project consortia could be of interest to the company.

Contact/ source: Enterprise Europe Network (europa.eu)