Locating leaks by using the step response of a pipeline

This paper presents a formal analysis of the pressure wave propagation along a pipeline to locate possible leaks. More specifically, this paper studies the step response of a pipeline when a downstream valve is closed to associate leaks' parameters (magnitude and position) with their effects on the pressure wave, such as the diversion and dissipation of the wave energy. The analysis starts with a matrix formulation (in the Laplace domain) to represent the behavior of a pipeline with a leak. Subsequently, boundary and initial conditions are imposed on the formulation in order to obtain the downstream pressure when a downstream valve is closed. Before converting the pressure response expression from the Laplace to the time domain, it is expanded into a series of exponential terms with negative exponents. The resulting transient expression is a sum of step functions with arguments that depend on time, the length of the pipeline, the wave speed and the leak position. From these arguments and the amplitude of the steps, the position and the magnitude of the leak can be determined.

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