Reliable sensing of leaks in pipelines

Dimitris M. Chatzigeorgiou*, You Wu, Kamal Youcef-Toumi, Rached Ben-Mansour

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Leakage is the major factor for unaccounted losses in every pipe network around the world (oil, gas or water). In most cases the deleterious effects associated with the occurrence of leaks may present serious economical and health problems. Therefore, leaks must be quickly detected, located and repaired. Unfortunately, most state of the art leak detection systems have limited applicability, are neither reliable nor robust, while others depend on user experience. In this work we present a new in-pipe leak detection system, PipeGuard. PipeGuard performs autonomous leak detection in pipes and, thus, eliminates the need for user experience. This paper focuses on the detection module and its main characteristics. Detection in based on the presence of a pressure gradient in the neighborhood of the leak. Moreover, the proposed detector can sense leaks at any angle around the circumference of the pipe with only two sensors. We have validated the concepts by building a prototype and evaluated its performance under real conditions in an experimental laboratory setup.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationControl, Monitoring, and Energy Harvesting of Vibratory Systems; Cooperative and Networked Control; Delay Systems; Dynamical Modeling and Diagnostics in Biomedical Systems;
PublisherAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
ISBN (Print)9780791856130
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

Publication series

NameASME 2013 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, DSCC 2013
Volume2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering

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