New Leak Localization Approach in Pipelines Using Single-Point Measurement
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 5, Issue 2
Abstract
Pipeline failures cause significant environmental and property damage and fatalities every year. Current methods have a lack of sensitivity to pinpoint the leak location with sufficient accuracy when the leak is at the stable regime. The acoustic emission (AE) method relies on propagating elastic waves caused by the leak turbulence. The current AE leak detection methodology relies on two neighbor sensors, and requires either a long wiring system or a wireless system with clock synchronization, which raises many other challenges. In this paper, the new leak localization approach is proposed to detect the leak from a single point measurement with two sensors designed to be sensitive to the wave motions generated in pipes at two orthogonal directions (radial and axial). The approach is demonstrated on a laboratory-scale steel pipe in comparison with the conventional two-neighbor sensor approach. The result indicates that the proposed localization approach successfully pinpoints the leak location with good accuracy, which enables the implementation of single-point wireless acoustic emission sensing in long-range pipeline networks.
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Acknowledgments
This research is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number ECCS 1125114. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 5 • Issue 2 • May 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 18, 2013
Accepted: Oct 31, 2013
Published online: Dec 20, 2013
Published in print: May 1, 2014
Discussion open until: May 20, 2014
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