LEAK DETECTION

SYSTEMS
Introduction

■ a leak detection main goal is to determine if and where a leak has

occurred in the pipeline .these systems can help minimize damage to ,the
environment and the company in avoiding high costs for repair ,
renovation , indemnity and the lost value of the liquid or gas that has
been released .
Causes of pipeline leaks
■ Fatigue cracks :occurs as the result of material fatigue

■ Stress corrosion :tensile strength Can cause stress tears that reduces the effectiveness of
Cathodic corrosion resulting in corrosion on the pipeline

■ Hydrogen indexing :the diffusion of hydrogen atoms into the metal grid of the pipe wal
forming molecular hydrogen

■ Material manufacturing errors :cavities are rolled into the material during the conception
of the pipe

■ External influence :seismic ground movements that can cause shifts in the ground
surrounding the pipeline
International Regulations

■ Leak dectection systems are required to be sensitive , reliable accurate

and robust
Sensitivity Reliability Accuracy Robustness

• Minimum detectable • False alarms are Conserns mainly the • Detect failling sensors
leak rate avoided localisation of the leak • Fall-back strategies
• Detection time • actual leaks are in the case of sensor
reliably detected failure
Leak detection methods
Leak detection
methods

Non-
continuous
continuous

Internal External

Pressure point analysis

Fibre optic cable Inspection by
Mass balance method helicopter
Acoustic systems
Statistical systems Smart pigginf
Sensor hoses
RTTM-based systems Tracking dogs
Video monitoring
E-RTTM
Non-continuous methods
1. The helicopter inspectation :
consists of a helicopter flieing along the pipeline searching any outflowing gas .the
detection can occur using 3 diffrent methods :
*a laser is set to the absorption wavelength of the medium to be detected when hit a part
of the laser energy is absorbed .This energy is measured to arrive at the amount of leaked medium
*infrared cameras:using video cameras with special filter that highlights a selected
spectrum of infrared wavelenghts.A visiual indication similar to smoke in some cases ensures the
leak detection
*leak sniffers: from air samples in an analyzing unit are able to measure the
concentratuon of the leak meduim.
→it is considered as a good option when the route of the pipeline is suitable for flight routes
The accuracy also depends on the weather conditions, in some cases of extreme weather the
helicopter cannot even fly
2. Pipeline pigs :
the pig advances into the pipeline and gathers data along the way . A receiver is used to
guide the pig out of the data .the magnetic flux leakage ant the ultrasonic principle are the
most common method to collect pipeline informations
→ the use of this methid requires to ensure that the pipeline is piggable in the first
place.There must be no obstacles such as restrictions or fittings making the passage too
narrow and there are pig launchers and receivers .the speed of the pig must be kept between
3-15 feet /second to obtain accurate result .
3.Tracking dogs :
using special trained dogs to recognize the odor of certain compounds wich are injected into
the pipeline to be inspected
→ it is a good method iwhen it’s impossible to accurately localize the leak by other
methods the dogs can narrow down the leak location .however it is only efficient with short
pipelines or segments of pipeline and it is also difficult to certify a tracking dog as a leak
detection system
Continuous external methods

■ Fiber optic : based on physical changes that occurs in the pipeline ; a change on temperature
profile .it is detected by a laser that emits pulses that are reflected by molecules in the fiber optic
cable
→ this method is a good option dor accurately localizing leaks but its limited to certain length
pipelines .it’s instalation depends on the product : for gaz it should be above the pipeline and for
liquids it makes sense to instal the cable below the pipeline
■ Acoustic systems: based on acoustic sensors installed outside of the pipeline to detect leaks
by measuring the noise levels .By creating a noise profile a devation from the baseline noise
created results in the leak alarm
→ for long pipelines a large number of acoustic sensors are needed and small leaks
can’t be detected otherwise there would be many false alarms
■ Video monitoring : using a video cameras with special filter that is sensitive to a
selected pectrum of infrared wavelenghts .the leak is represented by a smoke visable on the
video display
→this method is suitable for short distance pipelines but it’s a great method in
critical areas such as on company premises pr for high consequence areas
■ Sensor hoses : a semi-permeable hose is installed along the pipeline in case of leak the
meduim comes out of the pipeline and into the hose .there is an analyzing unit at the end
which tests the hose contents for the presence of hydrocarbons .
→ Usually only used for short pipelines due to the material-specific properties of the hose.the
unit can detect very small volumes even the small leaks can be detected .the instalation process
also depends on the product above for gaz ,bow for liquids

Sensor Hose Leak Detection

Continuous internal methods

■ Pressure point analysis: based on the evaluation of pressure drop . A leak leads to a
characteristic change in the pressure drop within a time period exceeds set thresholds . Upper
and lower thershold for pressure is determined and if either of these evnts occurs the system
triggers a leak alarm
■ Mass balance method : based on the principle of mass conservation . The pipeline is
considered as a closed system so the mass flow remains constant and is not changed and you
compare the mass flow at the inlet and outlet the fiddrence must equal zero in a free leak
case .If a leak happens the system is then considered open and mas escapes
→this method doesn’t take into account dynamic changes in the contents of the
pipe in the case of a gas pipeline where it produces more than what is consumed
■ Statistical systems: depending on a previously determined variable to a statistical test
common variables include pressure change over time . Two hypotheses are prepared,namely:
H0=No leak H1=leak
the system checks wether there s enough data for the statistical variable to be part of the leak
hypothesis
■ RRTM system : Real Time Transient Model this method can compensate for dynamic
changes . It obeys to basic physical laws such as :
o The conservation of mass principle (density ,time ,flow velocity)
o The conservation of momentum principle
o The conservation of energy principe (the enthalpy,time,pressure,the specific loss
performance)
these principals describe the stationary and transient behavior of the flow in the pipeline .Using
the equations the flow , pressure , temperature and density can be calculated and integrated in
real time for each point along the piepline
■ E-RTTM :
■ have the same principale as RTTM systems .At the inlet we mark P0 the pressure and T0 the
temperature and At the outlet PL and TL Using these measurements as boundary conditions
the leak detection system calculates using the laws of physics, expected flow rates at the inlet
and outlet. These expected values are then compared to the measured flow values F0 at the
inlet and FL at the outlet. Subtracting the expected from measured values we then obtain the
so-called residuals:
• X = measured flow at the inlet – calculated flow at the inlet
• Y = measured flow at the outlet – calculated flow at the outlet
In a leak-free situation, both X and Y should equal ~ 0. In the event of a leak, we see deviations
where residual X > 0 and residual Y < 0.
→ Thanks to this special type of signal evaluation, small leaks are reliably detected and false
alarms avoided.