An EKF-Based Method and Experimental Study for Small Leakage Detection and Location in Natural Gas Pipelines

Abstract

Small leaks in natural gas pipelines are hard to detect, and there are few studies on this problem in the literature. In this paper, a method based on the extended Kalman filter (EKF) is proposed to detect and locate small leaks in natural gas pipelines. First, the method of a characteristic line is used to establish a discrete model of transient pipeline flow. At the same time, according to the basic idea of EKF, a leakage rate is distributed to each segment of the discrete model to obtain a model with virtual multi-point leakage. As such, the virtual leakage rate becomes a component of the state variables in the model. Secondly, system noise and measurement noise are considered, and the optimal hydraulic factors such as leakage rate are estimated using EKF. Finally, by using the idea of an equivalent pipeline, the actual leakage rate is calculated and the location of leakage on the pipeline is assessed. Simulation and experimental results show that this method can consistently predict the leakage rate and location and is sensitive to small leakages in a natural gas pipeline.

Self-Powering Wireless Sensor Networks in the Oil and Gas Industry

“…There is a continuous growth of research for self-powered WSNs that can be used to monitor machines, processes via sensing different parameters (such as temperature, vibration, strain, rotating speed, displacement, pressure, voltage, current, and Self-Powering Wireless Sensor Networks in the Oil and Gas Industry DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107919 acoustics) [18]. Besides monitoring machines in the oil and gas industry, WSNs can also be used to monitor pipelines condition [19][20][21][22].…”

Frequency-Domain Transfer Function Modeling Method for Dynamic Natural Gas Flow and Application in Pipeline Leakage Location

“…At the leakage point, following assumptions [1] are made. 1) Since the leakage occurs in the vertical direction, the momentum change caused by the leakage in the horizontal direction can be ignored.…”

“…However, due to the poisonous and explosive characteristics, once the natural gas leaks, it may cause serious accidents. While in the practical engineering, the main factors, such as corrosion, cracks, manufacturing defects, geological changes and human operation errors, make leakage an inevitable problem in the transmission and distribution of natural gas [1]. Therefore, it is essential to predict and locate leakage rapidly and effectively to ensure the efficient and safe application of natural gas.…”

A Novel Method for Source Tracking of Chemical Gas Leakage: Outlier Mutation Optimization Algorithm

“…To minimize harm to humans and avoid further accidents, it is significant to quickly and accurately get information about the leak point in the chemical leakage accident. Tracking the location of the chemical gas leak source and calculating the average leak rate of the chemical gas leak source are the most important tasks in obtaining the leak point information, which is directly related to the safety and accuracy of the fixed-point elimination work of the emergency safety department [ 6 , 13 , 14 ]. Using a gas dispersion model to match the actual gas sensor concentration distribution is the mainstream for quickly and accurately getting information about the leak point.…”