Liquid Pipeline Leak Detection -

Ongoing Research to Evaluate Selected

External Leak Detection Technologies
Mark Stephens, C-FER Technologies
Pipeline Safety Trust Conference, New Orleans LA
October 20, 2016

2016 Pipeline Safety Trust Conference www.cfertech.com 1

 Rationale
• Conventional Computational Pipeline Monitoring (CPM)
methods have very limited ability to detect small leaks
– Small leaks if undetected can lead to significant spill volumes

• Interest in alternative External Leak Detection (ELD) methods

– In conjunction with existing internal methods can provide system
redundancy and thereby enhance overall leak detection capability
– Have potential to address blind spot associated with detection of
small leaks

• Many ELD technologies are new and capabilities are evolving

– Performance capabilities have yet to be verified
– Difficult to verify through field trials and/or pilot projects
• Actual pipeline leak events are rare
• Realistic simulation of leak events problematic

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 External Leak Detection Methods

• Continuous monitoring (in-ground systems)

– Acoustic, temperature or displacement sensing (fibre optic cable)
– Hydrocarbon sensing (electrical cable) C-FER Ground Based
– Vapour sensing (permeable tube) Leak Detection JIP

• Periodic inspection (airborne and/or satellite systems)

– Visual inspection
• Manual or automated image interpretation
– Vapour sensing
• Laser or ambient light absorption sensing
• Flame ionization detection
– Temperature sensing C-FER Airborne
• Thermal imaging Leak Detection JIP
– Displacement sensing
• Laser light detection and ranging (LIDAR)

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 Ground Based Leak Detection
Joint industry Project
• Program objective
– Experimentally valuate selected commercially available cable or tube
based systems for leak detection on buried liquid pipelines
• Technology focus DAS and DTS

– Fibre optic cables for

distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and/or VST
distributed temperature sensing (DTS)
– Vapour sensing tubes (VST)
– Hydrocarbon sensing cables (HSC) HSC

• Deliverables
– Independently verified data on system performance capabilities
– Information to help vendors benchmark and improve their systems
• Research partners
– Enbridge Pipelines, TransCanada Pipelines, Kinder Morgan Canada

2016 Pipeline Safety Trust Conference www.cfertech.com 4

 Experimental Design
Considerations
• Simulate leaks under real world operating conditions
– Realistic soil conditions and sensor placement configurations
– Realistic temperature differentials between oil and soil
– Realistic release events
• Representative driving pressures, hole sizes and flow rates
• Range of release orientations (i.e. different clock positions)

• Facilitate unbiased evaluation of ELD technologies

– Matching conditions for competing technologies
– Provisions to ensure ‘blind testing’ from vendor perspective

• Ensure safe handling and disposal of hydrocarbons

– Apparatus to accommodate full range of LVP hydrocarbon liquids
– Near-term focus on diluted bitumen (dilbit)
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 Test Apparatus
External Leak Detection Experimental Research (ELDER) Apparatus

Retractable Enclosure

Soil Containment Tank

High Pressure Product Discharge Vessel

Pump Skid with Acoustic Enclosure

and Base Isolation System

Catalytic Oxidizer

Test Pipe with

Release Ports
Product Filter and Circulation
Piping, Discharge Piping, Spill Containment Berm
Vessel Pressurization
Systems, Control Valves,
Pressure Regulators and Product Storage Vessel
Flow Meter Not Shown

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 Test Apparatus –
Commissioning Trials

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 Soil and Sensor Placement

Light compaction:
backfill

← Trench boundary

Candidate ELD sensor cable/tube

Heavy compaction: placement locations
undisturbed soil

Soil placement considerations: Sensor placement considerations:

• In lifts to maximize consistency • Sensing mechanism and vendor
• Lift compaction varied to simulate recommendations
undisturbed soil and consolidated • Pipeline construction and cable
backfill installation feasibility
• Insight from previous tests

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 Test Preparation

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 Apparatus Ready for Testing
Testing involves the staging
of multiple release events
over a one-week period

Release parameters and timing

of release events not known by
vendors

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 Ground Based Leak Detection JIP
- Directional Findings
• Leak detection capabilities varies between technology
types and between vendors of a given technology type
in terms of both detection threshold and time to detect

• Detection capability can be significantly influence by

sensor placement location and release orientation

• Detection of small leaks (leak rates < 1% flow rate)

is possible

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 Airborne Leak Detection
Joint industry Project
• Program objective
– Evaluate selected technologies conveyed on airborne platforms for detecting
hydrocarbon liquid leaks from buried pipelines

• Technology focus
– Laser absorption  hydrocarbon vapour sensing
– Flame ionization  hydrocarbon vapour sensing
– Thermal imaging  ground temperature sensing
• Deliverables
– Models for volatile liquid vapour migration through soils, vapour dispersion in
the atmosphere and thermal effects of leaks at ground surface
– Evaluation of sensitivity of selected technologies for hydrocarbon liquid
vapour detection in the atmosphere and temperature differential detection
at ground surface

• Research partners
– Enbridge Pipelines, TransCanada Pipelines, Kinder Morgan Canada

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 Release Modeling – In Ground

• Determine magnitude of “signal” reaching surface

• Determine species of gases generated by liquid leaks

Temperature change Vapour flux

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 Release Modeling – In Atmosphere

• Determine hydrocarbon vapour plume concentration

above ground surface

350

300

ground
(m)
250
Ground
above
200
Class 1
Above

150 Class 2
Height

Class 3
Height

100

50

0
1.0E-08 1.0E-06 1.0E-04 1.0E-02 1.0E+00
Concentration
Pentane Concentraion (ppmV)

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 Model Verification

Example
• Confirm vapour flux model by
collecting volatile compounds
produced by liquid leaks in
ELDER tests PI
D

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 Technology Evaluation

Example
• Conduct controlled outdoor gas releases with vendor
sensors mounted on boom-lift Central weather
station Mobile boom-lift
• Evaluate detection capabilities (up to 125 ft)
Release points & weather stations

C-FER Data
Acquisition Trailer

AITF mobile
release lab

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 Airborne Leak Detection JIP -
Current Status
• Evaluation of technologies for detecting liquid
leaks by sensing hydrocarbon vapours in the
atmosphere is on going

• Evaluation of technologies for detecting liquid

leaks by sensing ground surface temperature
changes is soon to start

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