Frequency response function method for dynamic gas flow modeling and its application in pipeline system leakage diagnosis

Abstract

Timely diagnosing leakages is significant for the safety and reliability of gas pipeline systems, where an efficient and accurate modeling and solution method is critical to identify the leakage rate and location. Here, a frequency response function-based modeling method for dynamic gas flow in pipelines is proposed. Based on the frequency-domain flow resistance of pipelines and Fourier Transform, original dynamic flow model is transformed into the frequency response function model consisting of linear lumped transmission constraints, nonlinear frequency response function, and nonlinear pipeline resistance characteristics, which are efficiently solved according to their different mathematical properties. Dynamic simulation cases show the proposed modeling and solution method greatly improves the computational efficiency keeping the accuracy. Besides, taking the difference between measurements and simulation results under leakage condition as objective, an iterative bilayer optimization algorithm is proposed based on the mathematical categorization of system constraints to efficiently diagnose leakages. Four leakage diagnosis cases in single pipeline and pipeline network with measurement noise and transient boundary conditions are studied to validate the leakage diagnosis method. Absolute location errors in the results are all within 1%, demonstrating the accuracy and robustness of the proposed method for single leakages and multiple leakages occurring successively or simultaneously.