Water Ingress Detection in Low-Pressure Gas Pipelines Using Distributed Temperature Sensing System

• Main Authors: Wang, Libo, Narasimman, Srivathsan Chakaravarthi, Ravula, Sugunakar Reddy, Ukil, Abhisek
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: Water ingress detection; Distributed network of low-pressure gas pipeline
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/81609; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/42271
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In a distribution network of low-pressure gas pipelines, the situation of gas leak can be further aggravated when groundwater enters the pipeline through leaks and eventually blocks the gas flow. This will have critical implications on the gas supply to the customers. This is termed as ‘water ingress’, which typically happens only in low-pressure distribution networks, and not in high-pressure transmission networks. In order to find the location of water ingress, distributed temperature sensing (DTS) system has been used experimentally. The results show significant temperature change immediately after the onset of water ingress, and with data post-processing based on temporal difference, location information of the leak can be obtained. With a selected time window of interest, the inclination of gas pipeline is also indicated by the differenced temperature profiles. The DTS system is still capable of identifying the position, even if the location of water ingress is changed.