Statistical leak detection in gas and liquid pipelines

A new leak detection system has been developed by Shell Research, Amsterdam, and Stanlow Manufaturing Complex on Merseyside. Several applications of yhe system can now be found in both gas and liquid pipelines. This paper discusses the operational experience of the system on two liquid-propylene, two low-pressure ethylene and one sour-gas pipeline. These applications show that the system can be tailored to varying operational requirements with little effort. The system is easy to maintain and requires considerably less computing power than conventional software based systems.