Enhancing inland navigation by model predictive control of water levels: The Cuinchy-Fontinettes case

Abstract

Navigation canals are used for transport purposes. In order to allow safe navigation the water level should be kept in a certain range around the Normal Navigation Level (NNL). The water level is disturbed by known and unknown inputs, like tributaries, municipal water flows, rain, etc. Some of these inputs can be used to control the water level. If the geometry requires it, canal reaches are connected by locks. The operation of these locks sometimes can disturb the water level, if the difference between the upstream and downstream water level is large. The objective is to minimize the disturbances caused by these lock operations on the water level in order to maintain the NNL. In this work the global management of the canal reach is discussed and an option to maintain the NNL by active control is introduced. Some inputs to the system, such as other confluences or gates on the side of the locks, can be controlled automatically to react to the disturbances caused by the lock operations using model predictive control to maintain the desired water level.