CFPs: Technology & Innovation for Assessing Operability & Full Closure of High Consequence Valves

Project Objectives

• This project will evaluate existing maintenance approaches for high-consequence valves, provide guidance on the evaluation of the approaches for valve assessment and maintenance (including the application of artificial intelligence (AI)), and inform an exploration of new maintenance approaches.
• Lastly, this project will provide useful communications materials and statistics to convey the importance of valves in a resilient distribution system, as well as valve rebuild methods for larger, more expensive valves.

Budget

• Applicants may request up to $200,000 in WRF funds for this project.
• Project Duration: The anticipated period of performance for this project is 24 months from the contract start date.

Expected Deliverables

• Typical deliverables include the following, but proposers are encouraged to propose deliverables practical for utility use and to show creativity and originality:
  • Research report
  • Guidance manual
  • Case studies
  • Webcast

Research Approach

• This RFP is intentionally flexible in the research approach to encourage creativity and originality from proposers.
• The following approach is intended as a starting point
  • Conduct literature review to define high-consequence valves
  • Rely on existing data collected from utilities and/or their contractors actively engaged in maintenance activities on high-consequence valves
  • Conduct detailed case studies
  • Provide guidance for utilities to conduct the evaluation of approaches for valve assessment/maintenance and provide recommendations for minimizing interruptions to operations during valve inspection/testing/maintenance
  • Explore the application of AI

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals will be accepted from both U.S.-based and non-U.S.-based entities, including educational institutions, research organizations, governmental agencies, and consultants or other for-profit entities.
• Researchers who are late on any ongoing WRF-sponsored studies without approved no-cost extensions are not eligible to be named participants in any proposals.
• WRF encourages participation from water utilities and other organizations in WRF research. Participation can occur in a variety of ways, including direct participation, in-kind contributions, or in-kind services.

For more information, visit WRF.