1. Wireless Sensor Network for pipeline Leak Detection
Done by:
Ahmad Hassanin Farooq Mukhtar
Mansour Taghadosi Yousif Mohammad
Supervised by:
Prof. Mustahsan Mir
Ajman University of Science & Technology
College of Engineering
Overview:
Oil & Gas pipeline leaks have a huge economical and environmental impact. Additionally, More than 48 billion m3 of water is lost in underground distribution systems worldwide per year. Our aim is to utilize a Wireless Sensor Network distributed along the pipeline in order to detect and locate leaks.
A pipeline monitored by a WSN
Design and Implementation:
First Stage: Designing the Wireless Sensor Network
The wireless sensor network developed ensures reliable two-way communication between the nodes by implementing an efficient Layer two protocol. A simple Layer three protocol was also implemented to reduce the power consumption needed to send data to the base station.
Second Stage: Detecting leaks in pipelines
A leak generates a pressure wave which propagates along the pipeline. A simple model was built to study the pressure transients caused by a leak.
Schematic Diagram of the built model
PCB Implementation of a Node
Power consumption analysis using LabVIEW
Picture of the built model
Stage 3: Analyze Pressure Transients
Pressure Transients caused by a leak where analyzed using LabVIEW. This analysis showed that the signals from the sensors contains a lot of noise. The noise was reduced by reducing power supply ripples and implementing a moving average filter at the nodes.
Pressure Sensor Output after a Leak develops
System Cost
For monitoring a 100Km Pipeline it is estimated that the system will cost around 25000$.
Operational Cost and Maintenance
Since the wireless sensor network will operate on batteries; you have to continuously change the batteries. Each node will consume around 4.1AH monthly so if a battery with this capacity was used it have to be recharged every month.
Comparison with Current Systems
Method
Sensitivity
Location
Availability
Maintenance
Cost
GPR
Yes No
Medium
High
Acoustic
Y/N
Dynamic Model
Our System
Low
Conclusion:
A pipeline Leak detection system was successfully developed . The system can quickly detect and locate leaks and It overcomes many of the weakness in current leak detection systems.