Moving horizon estimation for pipeline leak detection, localization, and constrained size estimation

Advanced pipeline leak detection and localization techniques are needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from hydrocarbon transportation pipelines. Developing effective leak detection and localization methods is challenging due to the spatiotemporal dynamics of process variables, the presence of process/measurement disturbances and constraints, and the limited measurement data. To address this issue, this manuscript proposes a novel moving horizon estimation design for pipeline leak detection, constrained estimation of leak size and location by using an infinite-dimensional pipeline hydraulic model. Based on the mass and momentum balance laws and the Cayley–Tustin time-discretization method, an infinite-dimensional discrete-time pipeline hydraulic model is proposed considering (unknown but bounded) disturbance and leak. By introducing a coordinate transformation, we decouple the leak size and location estimation problems. The implementable discrete-time moving horizon estimator and observer are designed for constrained leak size and location estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed designs is validated via simulation examples.