Wolfgang Rauch

University of Innsbruck | UIBK · Institute for Infrastructure Engineering

Various approaches to quantifying resilience have sparked debate in past years. This study measures the social and hydraulic resilience of an Urban Drainage System (UDS) using two methodologies, i.e., a proposed index-based framework and a parametric-based Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method. The former positions flexibility as a key prope...

Land cover alteration due to anthropogenic activities modify land surface properties in absorbing, reflecting and emitting radiation as well as infiltrating, evaporating and storing water. This consequently modifies surface energy and water fluxes and, thus, climatic conditions. Progressive surface sealing results in higher runoff rates, less groun...

To have climate-resilient infrastructures, the first step is to measure resiliency and then improve it by using some adaptive measures. Best Management Practices (BMPs) are among the most important structural solutions for adapting to climatic change. In this study, a parameter-based methodology was proposed to quantify the resilience of the Urban...

Weltweit haben Städte bereits damit begonnen, Klimawandelanpassungsmaßnahmen gegen Hitzebelastung und Überflutungen in Strategieplänen festzuhalten und mittels blauer und grüner Infrastruktur konkret entgegenzuwirken. Der Paradigmenwechsel von zentraler hin zur dezentraler Niederschlagswasserbehandlung spielt dabei eine entscheidende Rolle. Dieser...

Kurzfassung: Regentonnen stellen im Vergleich zum Gesamtsystem kleine Speichereinheiten dar. Um dennoch einen Beitrag zum Gesamtsystem zu leisten, wurde das Konzept der smarten Regentonnen (SRT) entwickelt. Die SRT werden in Echtzeit überwacht und gesteuert. Um die Wirksamkeit der SRT zu demonstrieren, werden sie am Campus Technik der Universität I...

Here we present the results of a global sensitivity analysis (GSA) applied for a microscale hydrodynamic model, which combines pipe infrastructure and small scale source treatments in terms of raingardens (RGs). The aim is to identify the most influential model parameters to support the decision for future measurement installation sites and smart w...

Rain barrels are micro-scale applications which are used as temporary storage and for rainwater harvesting. They can be easily implemented into existing stormwater infrastructure. Recent advances in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) have opened up new possibilities for real-time monitoring and control of such structures, that enable the reducti...

Although the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) in reducing urban flooding is widely recognized, the improved sustainability achieved by implementing BMPs in upstream suburban areas, reducing downstream urban floods, is debated. This study introduces a new definition of urban drainage system (UDS) sustainability, focusing on BMP usag...

This work investigates the usage of both rain gauge measurements and radar data of a 500-year event that happened in Innsbruck in July 2016. The occurring intensities varied strongly, e.g. they could be classified into a return period of 500 and 25 years within a distance of 2 km. The underlying research question is, whether a change of model perfo...

In this work, we present a novel approach to explore future trajectories in urban drainage systems, emphasizing the adoption and implementation of sustainable ‘nature-based’ stormwater management strategies. The focus is on the development and long-term assessment of socio-technical pathways to create a multifunctional stormwater system at the city...

Cities and their infrastructure networks are always in motion and permanently changing in structure and function. This paper presents a methodology for automatically creating future water distribution networks (WDNs) that are stressed step-by-step by disconnection and connection of WDN parts. The associated effects of demand shifting and flow rearr...

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless Lagrangian method that has been successfully applied to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), solid mechanics and many other multi-physics problems. gpuSPHASE is a graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated solver for 2D SPH simulations that is optimized for relatively small numbers of particles but...

Greenhouse gas emissions and the associated global warming necessitates the application of renewable forms of energy as appropriate alternatives to fossil fuels. The biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD) is a reliable renewable energy source that exerts a very small carbon footprint. Despite the environmental and economic advantages of AD, biogas ha...

Given the adverse impacts of climate change on urban water infrastructures' resilience, using adaptive strategies is of great importance. For urban drainage systems (UDSs), despite considerable progress in sustainable management of such infrastructures all over the world, they are still exposed to uncertain drivers of future changes. Quantifying th...

Urban drainage systems are designed to capture the runoff for a certain return period of a design rainfall event. Typically, numerical models are used, which are calibrated by comparing model response and measured system performance. The applicability of such models to predict the system behaviour under extreme events is unclear, as usually then no...

In tropical countries like Brazil, fast and uncontrolled urbanization, together with high rainfall intensities, makes flooding a frequent event. The implementation of decentralized stormwater controls is a promising strategy aiming to reduce surface runoff and pollution through retention, infiltration, filtration, and evapotranspiration of stormwat...

Urban water management will face various challenges in the future. Growing population in cities, changing climatic conditions and uncertain availability of water resources necessitate forward-looking water policy strategies. In this paper, we introduce a new water balance model to evaluate urban water strategies at a city scale. The aim is to evalu...

This article presents a bottom-up approach which attempts to link the Water Footprint (WF) concept with climate change adaptation and capacity development. The approach was developed and tested in cooperation with a partner school in Austria aiming to provide a starting point for WF assessment and formulate an improvement response. The pupils reduc...

Pipe failure modelling is an important tool for strategic rehabilitation planning of urban water distribution infrastructure. Rehabilitation predictions are mostly based on existing network data and historical failure records, both of varying quality. This paper presents a framework for the extraction and processing of such data to use it for train...

In the future infrastructure systems will have to become smarter, more sustainable, and more resilient requiring new methods of urban infrastructure design. In the field of urban drainage, green infrastructure is a promising design concept with proven benefits to runoff reduction, stormwater retention, pollution removal, and/or the creation of attr...

Multiphase problems with high density ratios and complex interfaces deal with numerical instabilities and require accurate considerations for capturing the multiphase interfaces. An Incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) scheme is presented to simulate such problems. In order to keep the present scheme simple and stable, well-establi...

Although calibration of a hydrodynamic model depends on the availability of measurement data representing the system behavior, advice for the planning of necessary measurement campaigns for model calibration is scarce. This work tries to address this question of efficient measurement site selection on a network scale for the objective of calibratin...

In this article, a finite volume method based CFD analysis of the mixing of Newtonian and non-Newtonian flows in anaerobic digesters is conducted. The multiple reference frame method is used to model the mixing which is induced by an impeller rotating within a mechanical draft tube. Moreover, the feeding of biomass is considered in the model formul...

The efficient iteration of neighbouring particles is a performance critical aspect of any high performance smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) solver. SPH solvers that implement a constant smoothing length generally divide the simulation domain into a uniform grid to reduce the computational complexity of the neighbour search. Based on this metho...

For communication of urban flood risk for authorities and public a realistic 3-dimensional visual display of the action is frequently more suitable than detailed flood maps. Such virtual reality exposure could also serve to plan short termed flooding interventions. We introduce here an alternative approach for simulating 3-dimensional flooding dyna...

The estimation of missing rainfall data is an important problem for data analysis and modelling studies in hydrology. This paper developed a Bayesian method to address missing rainfall estimation from runoff measurements based on a pre-calibrated conceptual rainfall–runoff model. The Bayesian method assigns posterior probability of rainfall estimat...

Urban drainage networks are under constant pressure caused by a permanently changing environment. For proactive planning, management, and adaptation of urban water infrastructure, a robust and comprehensive knowledge base is needed as decision support. This paper shows an integrated approach for decision support consisting of urban development mode...

This paper focuses on the performance of water distribution systems (WDSs) during long-term city transitions. A transition describes the pathway from an initial to a final planning stage including the structural and functional changes on the infrastructure over time. A methodology is presented where consecutive WDSs under changing conditions are au...

In this work, we present a novel approach to explore the uncertain space of future development based on socio-technical pathways, urban development and performance assessments, coupled with the traditional biophysical models (i.e. hydrodynamic sewer modeling). The focus has been on the long-term implementation of green/blue infrastructure under unc...

Green/blue infrastructure is usually distributed over the catchment area in small scale units to meet the objectives of pollution removal, stormwater retention and/or the creation of attractive living space. This work investigates the effect of different LID placement strategies on the hydraulic network performance, which allows for the identificat...

Sealing of surfaces and land use change induced by population change puts pressure on urban water networks. Changes in paved areas can also increase the risk of pluvial flooding at places that have not been endangered before. For an anticipatory planning and adaptation of the existing water infrastructure to a dynamic and evolving system like a gro...

Long term planning of urban water infrastructure requires acknowledgement that transitions in the water system are driven by changes in the urban environment, as well as societal dynamics. Inherent to the complexity of these underlying processes is that the dynamics of a system's evolution cannot be explained by linear cause-effect relationships an...

As a developing country, Brazil has to deal with a lack of basic sanitation. One of the major challenges is the treatment of wastewater. While 94% of Brazilian municipalities have stormwater systems, only 55% are connected to a wastewater system. To help improve the current situation, this study estimates the costs for implementing an intermediate...

Mit dem Einsatz von Co-Substraten in Faultürmen an Abwasserreinigungsanlagen gelangen unerwünschte Störstoffe in den Prozess, welche aufgrund von Ablagerungen und verstärktem Verschleiß zu erhöhten Betriebskosten führen. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die Konzeption und Durchführung von Laborversuchen zur maßgeschneiderten Auslegung eines Partikelabs...

Ziel dieser Arbeit ist das Zusammenspiel von wasserwirtschaftlichen Einzelmaßnahmen (herkömmliche und naturnahe) in einem Gesamtkonzept und die Auswirkungen auf den urbanen Wasserkreislauf zu untersuchen.

An integrated numerical model is proposed based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method for modeling the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The fluid flow equations are discretized using the SPH formalism. Each particle is carrying the concentrations of the biologically active compounds such that the spatially distributed concentrations...

In the urban water cycle, there are different ways of handling stormwater runoff. Traditional systems mainly rely on underground piped, sometimes named ‘gray’ infrastructure. New and so-called ‘green/blue’ ambitions aim for treating and conveying the runoff at the surface. Such concepts are mainly based on ground infiltration and temporal storage....

In this paper, we investigate the historical development of complex network topologies in urban water distribution networks (WDNs) and urban drainage networks (UDNs). The analyses were performed on time-stamped network data of an Alpine case study, which represent the evolution of the town and its infrastructure over the past 106 years. We use the...

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless Lagrangian method that has been successfully applied to computational fluid dynamics (CFD), solid mechanics and many other multi-physics problems. Using the method to solve transport phenomena in process engineering requires the simulation of several days to weeks of physical time. Based on the hi...

Neue Bestrebungen in der Siedlungswasserwirtschaft zielen darauf ab, leitungsgebundene („graue“) Wasserinfrastruktur und die damit verbundene rasche Ableitung von Niederschlagswasser zu vermeiden. Neben einer Annäherung an den natürlichen Wasserkreislauf besteht die Erwartung, dass „grün-blaue“ Konzepte flexibler und robuster hinsichtlich zukünftig...

Urban water infrastructure, i.e., water supply and sewer networks, are underground structures, implying that detailed information on their location and features is not directly accessible, frequently erroneous, or missing. For public use, data is also not made available due to security concerns. This lack of quality data, especially for research pu...

The decisions taken in rehabilitation planning for the urban water networks will have a long lasting impact on the functionality and quality of future services provided by urban infrastructure. These decisions can be assisted by different approaches ranging from linear depreciation for estimating the economic value of the network over using a deter...

In this work a novel integrated biokinetic wastewater treatment (WWT) model based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method as hydraulic model is proposed. Significant outcomes of this work are the computation of a detailed spatial distribution of compounds in WWT basins and the quantification of the effects of the stirrer induced mixing...

In the urban water cycle there are different sources for extracting energy. In addition to potential and chemical energy in the wastewater, thermal energy can also be recovered. Heat can be recovered from the wastewater with heat exchangers that are located decentralized and/or centralized at several locations throughout the system. It can be recov...

In this paper, we present a methodology to evaluate stormwater systems with different future boundary conditions facing the highly uncertain spatial and temporal developments in the future urban fabric. Investigations are made to assess impacts caused by climate change and urbanization, shifts in the network layout and alternative strategies of sto...

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless particle-based discretisation method, which is herein applied for solving problems in urban water management (UWM) with complex flow configurations. The capabilities of the method are best demonstrated for the example of a wastewater treatment plant simulation, where the advantages of SPH in model...

Integrated urban drainage modelling combines different aspects of the urban water system into a common framework. With increasing pressures of a changing climate, urban growth and economic constraints, the need for wider spread integration is necessary in the interest of a sustainable future. Greater complexity results in greater computational burd...

In dieser Arbeit wird ein möglicher Übergang von grauer (traditioneller) zu grüner Infrastruktur anhand der Stadt Kiruna (Schweden) untersucht, in der in den nächsten Jahrzehnten eine große Stadtumwandlung bevorsteht und die Implementierung von dezentralen (grünen) Entwässerungsanlagen angestrebt wird. Dabei wird die hydraulische Leistungsfähigkeit...

From a scientific point of view, it is unquestioned that numerical models for technical systems need to be calibrated. However, in sufficiently calibrated models are still used in engineering practice. Case studies in the scientific literature that deal with urban water management are mostly large cities, while little attention is paid to the diffe...

A simple incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (ISPH) method is proposed for modelling of multi-phase flows with high density and high viscosity ratios. In order to reduce the CPU demand and to avoid probable singularities, simple and well established formulations are used for the spatial derivatives. To maintain the sharpness of the multi...

Urban drainage networks are affected by changes in precipitation intensities and paved areas. Both, climate change and city development, are effects to be considered when analysing long-term changes of the system performance. Those future projections are highly uncertain. As such it is reasonable not to try to predict the future and to consider one...

Using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method the hydrodynamic equations can be solved by interpolating a continuous fluid with particles. Key advantages for the application in wastewater treatment (WWT) are the intrinsic support of free surfaces and the exact handling of advection. The combination of SPH as hydraulic model with the activated...

In this work, interacting small hydro power systems (SHPS) within a water distribution system with over capacities are investigated. Therefore, an excess water turbine (Pelton turbine–PT) is installed at the end of a supply zone, downstream of a pump as a turbine (PAT) which reduces the pressure for that supply zone. Different sizes of PT cause dif...

A closed landfill site has still to be managed for several decades in aftercare operation. Current studies predict that for almost all landfill sites the aftercare operation has to be prolonged for several decades in contrast to previously made assumptions. This means higher costs and economic problems for owners as the provision made cannot cope....

Climate change, world population growth and industrialization have placed considerable stress on the local availability of water resources. Considering that most of the world’s population currently resides in cities, this issue has particular relevance in an urban environment. One of the methods that is recognized to support better water management...

Small hydro power systems (SHPSs) are increasingly installed in water distribution systems (WDSs). With only minor adaptations in a WDS, pressure surplus can be utilised. In such systems, a water surplus is also often available. In this work, water consumption data of a real Alpine WDS over one year are used as an input for an Epanet2 long-term sim...

One of the best known hydraulic water distribution modeling toolkits that is most used by both researchers and practitioners is EPANET 2. Initially the authors aimed to speed up such simulations by utilizing modern multicore processors in the code implementation. The 30-year-old linear solver was replaced in steps by seven different modern multicor...

In this paper a novel hydrodynamic wastewater treatment (WWT) model based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is presented. The hydraulics of the wastewater treatment plant is modelled in detail with SPH. The SPH solver is coupled to the activated sludge model such that the influence on biokinetic processes is described. The key innovation of...