Abstract
ABSTRACT Leak detection is an integral component of pipelines that often fails due to one or the other reason and leads to several issues of serious concern requiring immediate attention. This paper revisits a technique based on hydraulic principles of flow of water through pipes and verifies it experimentally for its applicability using reasonably large set of data derived experimentally for various pipes of different materials and diameters, pipe flows, and leak discharges/locations. The study finds that the available hydraulic equation for leak localization is valid only for long pipes, not for short pipes experiencing significant impact of leak-generated negative waves on inlet and outlet pressures, too sensitive to localization. The proposed new (more elaborate) equation not only works well for both short and long pipes but also enables a consistent description of the effects of pipe materials, diameters, pipe flows, and leakages and their sensitivity to localization. In an attempt to further support the study results, the acoustics-based measurements were also analyzed for describing the level of leakage in pipes with increasing decibel magnitude, and the results were found to be not only cogent but also consistent in describing the impacts of pipe materials/sizes and leak locations on noise level.
Published Version
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