Optioneer for Hydraulics

"optioneer includes a simplified hydraulics tool to give a high level indication of how elevation and friction affect flow along a route it’s not a detailed hydraulic model, but it’s very useful for comparing options early on — especially to see where pumping might be needed and what that means for costs if we turn it on, we can look at both gravity fed and pumped options, see basic pressure and flow information, and estimate the operational cost of pumping over the life of the asset ” hydraulics in optioneer gives you a basic, high level view of how water (or another fluid) moves through a pipeline it’s not a full engineering grade hydraulic model — it’s a screening tool to highlight things like friction loss, elevation effects, and where pumping might be needed 🌊 what optioneer’s hydraulics actually does ✅ takes into account ❌ does not take into account elevation (uphill/downhill sections) pipe bends, fittings, or angle changes friction loss inside the pipe complex transient effects or turbulence basic pumping energy and costs full hydraulic network modelling so — it’s there to show trends and comparative costs , not to design a real pumping system ⚙️ parameters that must be on pipeline pumping cost parameters → cover the cost side (pumps, energy, maintenance, etc ) pipeline pumping technical parameters → cover the technical side (flow rate, pressures, velocities, etc ) you must turn both on in the configuration for optioneer to do any hydraulic or pumping calculations — even if you’re testing a gravity fed route 🧩 what the tool calculates when hydraulics is active, optioneer can show velocity – how fast the fluid is moving in the pipe pressure – pressure along the route hydraulic head – total energy available (pressure + elevation) friction loss / head loss – energy lost to pipe friction you’ll see these plotted along the route profile in optioneer 🚰⚙️ pumped vs non pumped (gravity fed) cases pumped systems use pumps to move water uphill or where pressure drops below acceptable limits the number of pumps, flow rate, and velocity targets all affect results and costs optioneer automatically activates pumping if the start point is much lower than the end point pressure would otherwise go negative the total “head” (pressure + elevation) is too low non pumped (gravity fed) systems water flows under gravity only (no pumps) to model these, set pumps = 0 but still keep pumping components on you can add “input pressure” (e g 1 bar ≈ 10 m water head) to simulate a reservoir or tank giving an initial push 💰 how optioneer estimates pumping costs optioneer uses a few simple equations behind the scenes pump energy based on how much extra pressure (“head”) the pump must add opex (annual) power required × hours run × electricity cost lifetime opex annual cost × pump life in years these are comparative costs , not precise financial models — they help you see which route or setup might be more efficient overall 📊 understanding the outputs in optioneer, you’ll typically see metrics overall figures for the route (e g , total head loss, total pump power, annual cost) composition chart visuals showing elevation, pressure, and head along the route — helps you spot where pumping is needed if a hill rises above the hydraulic head line, the route would need a pump there ⚠️ key limitations only works for a to b routes , not whole water networks doesn’t model bends, junctions, or valves not suitable for scenario comparisons (one configuration only) best used for early stage screening , not final design