Acoustic Emission Leak Detection on a Metal Pipeline Buried in Sandy Soil
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 4, Issue 3
Abstract
An acoustic emission (AE) method was used to detect leaks and discern their location under flow conditions in a 304.8-m-long, 305-mm-diameter buried steel pipeline at the New Jersey Institute of Technology/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (NJIT/USEPA) Buried Pipeline Test Facility in Edison, New Jersey. A leak was successfully detected, and its discernible location was indicated to within 0.3 m, with a sensor separation of 65.5 m, and with water in the pipeline flowing at . Encouraging results were also obtained for a leak that was discernible at a sensor separation of 21.3 m under the same flow conditions. Previous static pressure leak testing on this pipeline detected a leak at sensor separations of up to 192.9 m, and it is expected that mitigating the effects of both externally produced and flow-induced background noise will allow for the detection of smaller leak rates under greater flow conditions. These results demonstrated that effective AE leak detection could be performed under flow conditions on water-filled buried metal pipelines in sandy soils.
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Acknowledgments
This work was sponsored through the Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Center (NHSRC) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Grant No. R-825512-01. The contents of this paper reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the information presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect views or policies of NJIT, NHSRC, or USEPA. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The authors wish to thank Dr. Warren Chen and Mr. Alex Samayoa, formerly of PAC, for their assistance and support, Mahesh Khanolkar and Sim Liu of NJIT for their assistance in the performance of the AE testing, and also anonymous reviewers whose contributions substantially improved the presentation of the paper.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 4 • Issue 3 • August 2013
Pages: 149 - 155
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 2, 2011
Accepted: Dec 19, 2012
Published online: Dec 21, 2012
Discussion open until: May 21, 2013
Published in print: Aug 1, 2013
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