Green Win, greener waterways

Even though river freight is much less polluting than road transport, the high energy consumption of the pumps that control the water level of rivers and canals in north-west Europe can be further reduced, while also reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

In the midst of the climate crisis, water is a major challenge. The Belgian city of Liège is crossed by the River Meuse. The river, like other waterways, is managed by an operator; each European country has one or more management bodies. Europe has 35,000 km of waterways.

Hydraulic researchers at the University of Liège are working on ways to save energy in the management of these river routes, in collaboration with the thermodynamic laboratory. The Green Win project funded by the European Union has tackled excessive consumption during water pumping for five years. Water pumping has a significant carbon impact in north-west Europe, accounting for 25-33% of the annual electricity consumption of waterway management organisations and around 20% of total emissions.

Benjamin Dewals, professor at the university, explains that “a test bench has been installed which enables submersible pumps to be tested in almost real conditions. These are pumps capable of pumping water up several tens of metres. The system makes it possible to estimate the quantities of energy consumed for a very wide operating range in terms of flow rate and height where the water is pumped up.”

The University of Liège is a benchmark in Europe in terms of hydraulic research. The researchers have installed a hydraulic loop, which simulates all kinds of situations that can be found in the field. The tests were carried out with four pumps sent from Ireland and Great Britain, in a tank three metres wide and 4.50