Bank of leak diagnosis algorithms for pressurized pipelines

Abstract

This paper focus on an approach based on sliding mode observers to estimate the position and pressure of a leak in a water plastic pipeline. Two observers are designed, the first one is based on First Order Sliding Mode (FOSM) and the second one is based on Super-Twisting algorithm. Convergence proofs are presented. The two derived observers are implemented in real-time with the purpose of evaluating the performance of such diagnosis systems in a pipeline prototype. These systems only use measures of flow and pressure coming from sensors placed at the ends of a pipeline. Satisfactory results are shown through some experiments.