Water Resource Management Optimization Utilizing Cloud Computing Systems

Presented on Monday, March 16, 2015
Tad Fox, PG1, Tim Hazlett2, Matt Wilson, R.G., L.E.P.3 and Larry Deschaine, PhD, PE2, (1)HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Hudson, OH, (2)HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Reston, VA, (3)HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Marlborough, CT

Physics Based Management Optimization (PBMO) provides water resource managers the ability to develop optimum solutions to water resources challenges. “Physics Based” indicates both flow and transport (in the case where contaminant migration or response to potential remedies is needed) are in the analysis. “Management Optimization” indicates the ability to incorporate objective functions (management constraints, such as time and cost) into the evaluation.

PBMO permits automated evaluation of 100’s to 1000’s of candidate solutions, greatly improving confidence in optimality. Recently, PBMO has been implemented on the multi-core grid computing system (PBMO-Grid). Our paper provides an overview of PBMO, including application case study results for mine dewatering and of the computational benefits of implementing cloud-based PBMO-Grid. In the Cloud-based case study, we evaluate flow and transport for a typical optimization search, for a moderately complicated project of 5000 candidate solutions, against sequential optimization.

PBMO-Grid reduces the CPU time required to solve the optimization problem by more than 14X when compared to sequential optimization. Parallel processing of optimization routines can reduce the time required to respond to changing conditions, allowing managers to make frequent changes without sacrificing efficiency. Serial processing of candidate solutions by optimization software can take weeks if not months to produce an optimal solution. Implementation of PBMO-Grid on the Cloud allows for increased flexibility and adaptation of computational resources, which can now support optimal remedy design and long-term management strategies for complex soil and groundwater sites. PBMO-Grid can be deployed for deterministic or stochastic optimization (formally computes design risk and predicted degree of success). The numerical models used can either be a single composite model or a mixture of models and other calculations or expert systems. PBMO-Grid integrates the computational models in a seamless manner, and models run on the Cloud can be implemented in Windows or Linux platforms.


MP3 Presentation Slides

Tad Fox, PG
HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Hudson, OH
Tad Fox, PG, is a Principal Scientist at HydroGeoLogic with more than 24 years of experience managing and conducting hydrogeologic investigations at industrial, DoD, and DOE sites. He specializes in 3D geospatial modeling, numerical modeling and optimization, and hydrogeologic evaluations. He has employed numerical models to support remedial process optimization, risk assessment calculations, alternatives evaluation and remedy selection, capture zone analyses and to develop performance monitoring plans. Fox has utilized 3-D volume modeling to estimate the volume of contaminants in the subsurface, to integrate field data within a consistent framework, and to present modeling results to clients, regulatory agencies, and concerned citizens.
Tim Hazlett
HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Reston, VA
TBA
Matt Wilson, R.G., L.E.P.
HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Marlborough, CT
TBA
Larry Deschaine, PhD, PE
HydroGeoLogic, Inc., Reston, VA
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