Fast leak localization based on acoustic signal attenuation for pipelines in high-noise environment

Pipeline networks are being used worldwide for a variety of reasons. A major problem that poses an obstacle to the safe and normal operation of a pipeline network is the occurrence of leaks. In the past years a large number of leak localization methods have been developed and they have presented appreciable accuracy in the estimation of the leak position. However, apart from the accuracy of such a method, another important factor is the amount of time needed for a system implementing this method to provide results, which is a topic rarely encountered in the literature. In this article a leak localization method based on the attenuation of acoustic leak signals propagating in a pipeline is presented. The minimum duration of the measurements needed for avoiding accuracy degradation is determined. By this approach accurate results in shorter time than the traditional time-delay estimation methods are achieved. Furthermore, since the proposed method is designed for the environment of an oil refinery, its efficiency is also tested under high-noise conditions and the corresponding results are provided.