Modeling and simulation of leaks in pipelines

Leaks from pipelines, in general, pose potential hazards to the environment. In addition to loss of products, leaks contribute to environmental pollution, promote corrosion and equipment failure, and produce instabilities in the pipeline operation and control. The objective of this research project is to develop and test a leak detection scheme that can be applied to pipeline systems. The proposed methodology adopts real-time system models that account for the transient behavior of the pressure and flow rate profiles in the pipeline system. Such models are essential for the successful application of modern methodologies of control theory including state estimation and parameter identification techniques. In this paper, the first phase of the research project is presented, wherein the transient flow models are established, linearized, presented in state-space form, and integrated forward in time to predict the flow histories in the presence of leaks. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the validity of the developed mathematical models.