Time periodic optimal policy for operation of a water storage tank using the dynamic programming approach

Abstract

Operation of a water storage tank in a specific environment motivates mathematical studies on a discrete-time deterministic dynamic programming problem. The operator decides whether or not to open the valve releasing the water in the tank to a drip irrigation system, based on the information on the storage volume of the tank. Two cases of functional regularity, which are Lipschitz continuous and of bounded variations, are considered for the reward defining the performance index to be maximized. Firstly, it is shown that the value function inherits the Lipschitz continuity of the reward in the infinite time horizon problem with discounting. Then, time periodic value functions are discussed in terms of the fixed-point theorem. Discrete approximation of value functions is discussed as well, to conduct numerical experiments with a-posteriori error estimation applied to the real-world problem where the discount rate approaches to unity. It is found that a Skiba point appears as a threshold of valve opening for each day in an optimal policy for operation. Practically, setting a constant threshold throughout the period is quite reasonable and acceptable for the operator of the water storage tank to irrigate the farmland.