Integrated leakage detection and localization model for gas pipelines based on the acoustic wave method

With the development of natural gas transportation systems, major accidents can result from internal gas leaks in pipelines that transport high-pressure gases. Leaks in pipelines that carry natural gas result in enormous financial loss to the industry and affect public health. Hence, leak detection and localization is a major concern for researchers studying pipeline systems. To ensure the safety and improve the efficiency of pipeline emergency repair, a high-pressure and long-distance circular pipe leakage simulation platform is designed and established by similarity analysis with a field transmission pipeline, and an integrated leakage detection and localization model for gas pipelines is proposed. Given that the spread velocity of acoustic waves in pipelines is related to the properties of the medium, such as pressure, density, specific heat, and so on, this paper proposes a modified acoustic velocity and location formula. An improved wavelet double-threshold de-noising optimization method is also proposed to address the original acoustic wave signal collected by the test platform. Finally, the least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) method is applied to determine the leakage degree and operation condition. Experimental results show that the integrated model can enhance the accuracy and precision of pipeline leakage detection and localization.     

基于广义概念的城市燃气管道泄漏精确定位

为了准确地检测城市燃气管道泄漏,提出了一种基于广义概念的管道泄漏检测定位方法。声发射技术对于管道泄漏的检测、定位是一个极好的工具,但由于泄漏源的传播容易受到周围背景噪声以及复杂工况的影响,其定位误差较大。基于时延估计的互相关信号处理方法被广泛用于管道泄漏检测定位,但由于泄漏应力波传播通道的动态特性,使得源信号在传播过程中会产生波形变化,给互相关函数峰值位置的确定带来困难。由此引入广义相关分析方法,通过对信号进行前置滤波,在一定程度上减少了传播通道动态特性因素对泄漏点定位的不利影响,得到了更为准确的时延估值。在此基础上,通过模拟实验,编写Matlab神经网络代码,构造GRNN模型,进一步预测定位。结果表明,GRNN预测的声发射检测值、互相关定位值以及广义相关定位值,相比之前定位精度分别得到提高,其中基于广义相关的延时估计方法定位最为精确,将该方法用于工程实际中,可以更加精确地定位出泄漏点。     

Experimental study on leak detection and location for gas pipeline based on acoustic method

The leak of gas pipelines can be detected and located by the acoustic method. The technologies of recognizing and extracting wave characteristics are summarized in details in this paper, which is to distinguish leaking and disturbing signals from time and frequency domain. A high-pressure and long distance leak test loop is designed and established by similarity analysis with field transmission pipelines. The acoustic signals collected by sensors are de-noised by wavelet transform to eliminate the background noises, and time-frequency analysis is used to analyze the characteristics of frequency domain. The conclusion can be drawn that most acoustic signals are concentrated on the ranges of 0-100 Hz. The acoustic signal recognition and extraction methods are verified and compared with others and it proves that the disturbing signals can be efficiently removed by the analysis of time and frequency domain, while the new characteristics of the accumulative value difference, mean value difference and peak value difference of signals in adjacent intervals can detect the leak effectively and decrease the false alarm rate significantly. The formula for leak location is modified with consideration of the influences of temperature and pressure. The positioning accuracy can be significantly improved with relative error between 0.01% and 1.37%.     

Study on leak-acoustics generation mechanism for natural gas pipelines

In order to figure out the principles of acoustic leak detection for natural gas pipelines, a study on the leak-acoustics generation mechanism is carried out. The aero-acoustics generation mechanism is analyzed and when leakage occurs the wave equations of sonic sources are developed. The leak-acoustics generated by the quadrupole and dipole sonic sources are then simulated to obtain the laws of the acoustic characteristics. The simulation data are compared with the experimental data to verify the simulation accuracy under variable operating conditions. The results show that the quadrupoles and the dipoles generated by turbulent fluctuations cause leak-acoustics; the main component of pressure perturbations acquired by the dynamic pressure sensor is acoustic perturbations; both the simulation method and the experimental method can be applied to study the leak-acoustics generation mechanism of natural gas pipelines.     

The method for leakage detection of urban natural gas pipeline based on the improved ITA and ALO

To solve the problems of the difficulty in early leakage monitoring and larger positioning error for urban hazardous chemicals pipelines, the optimized method based on the improved Inverse Transient Analysis (ITA) and Ant Lion Optimizer (ALO) was proposed. Firstly, based on the obtained experiment's results of leakage of natural gas in the non-metallic pipeline, the segment classification method was incorporated into the pressure gradient calculation. The modified method can adapt to the multi-node characteristics of urban pipe networks and help to obtain the preliminary positioning calculation results after optimization. Then the calculation results were embedded in the ITA calculation model. The input parameters of the gas pipeline such as boundary conditions, leakage rate and friction coefficient were used to establish the characteristic linear equations. Then the objective function of the least-squares criterion was defined, and the improved ITA model suitable for leakage detection of urban natural gas pipeline networks was constructed. Finally, the ALO was used to optimize the calculation process of the improved ITA model, and iteratively optimize the optimal friction coefficient and its corresponding minimum objective function (OF) value. As a result, a more precise location of the leakage source was calculated. The validation of the modified method is conducted by comparing the calculated values with the experiment's results. The results show that the method can accurately predict the location where the pipeline leakage occurs. The minimum error is 3.17%. Compared with the traditional ITA, this method not only accelerates the convergence speed of the objective function, but also improves the accuracy of location calculation.     

城市管道天然气在土壤中泄漏扩散实验研究

天然气在土壤中扩散行为的实验研究对埋地管道泄漏点的科学定位及泄漏事故的预防具有重要意义.采用全尺度气体泄漏实验系统,模拟真实埋地管道泄漏场景,对泄漏后的天然气在土壤中的扩散对流过程进行实验研究.基于自行研制的气体检测与数据采集系统和GasClam地下气体在线监测仪,分析天然气在土壤中的对流扩散规律.结果表明:埋地管道泄漏后天然气在土壤中的对流扩散过程可以分为4个阶段:孕育阶段、陡然增长阶段、缓慢增长阶段和稳定阶段,其浓度随泄漏时间的变化过程符合S型曲线特征.天然气扩散至检测点所需时间与距泄漏口距离呈现近似的幂指数关系.当检测点位于泄漏口附近区域时,泄漏压力起主导作用.当检测点位于远离泄漏口区域时,泄漏量起主导作用.     

Leak detection of hydrogen–natural gas mixtures in pipes using the characteristics method of specified time intervals

This paper presents a technique for detection and location of leaks in a single pipe, by means of transient analysis, of hydrogen–natural gas mixtures flows. The method uses transient pressure waves initiated by the sudden closure of a downstream shut-off valve. The presence of a leak in a pipe partially reflects these pressure waves and allows for the location of the leak. Pressure waves are governed by two coupled non-linear, hyperbolic partial differential equations with pressure dependent coefficients. The fluid pressure and velocity are considered as two principal dependent variables. To determine the leak location, the mathematical formulation has been solved by the characteristics method of specified time intervals. The computed results describe the influence of the leak on pressure time-history and the effect of hydrogen mass fraction in the mixture on the leak discharge behaviour. It was found that transient pressure is much important in the case of hydrogen than that in the case of natural gas.     

Leak location of pipelines based on characteristic entropy

The leakage of oil/gas pipelines is one of the major factors to influence the safe operation of pipelines. So it is significant to detect and locate the exact pipeline leakage. A novel leak location method based on characteristic entropy is proposed to extract the input feature vectors. In this approach, the combination of wavelet packet and information entropy is called “wavelet packet characteristic entropy” (WP-CE). The combination of empirical mode decomposition and information entropy is called “empirical mode decomposition characteristic entropy” (EMD-CE). Both pressure signal and flow signal of low noise and high noise of pipeline leakage are decomposed to extract the characteristic entropy. The location of pipeline leak is determined by the combination of the characteristic entropy as the input vector and particle swarm optimization and support vector machine method (PSO-SVM). The results of proposed leak location method are compared with those of PSO-SVM based on physical parameters. Under the condition of high noise, the results of proposed leak location method are better than those of PSO-SVM based on physical parameters.     

基于层次-模糊评价法的山区油气管道地质灾害易发性研究

针对山区油气管道地质灾害的基本特征,将层次分析与模糊综合评价相结合,建立起可用于山区管道地质灾害易发性评价的层次-模糊评价模型;并从自然因素、管道敷设状况、灾害活动和设计与误操作四个方面建立山区油气管道地质灾害易发性评价体系.首先依据专家经验构造各层影响因素的判断矩阵,并利用层次分析法求出各影响因素的权重集,然后对山区油气管道地质灾害易发性进行多级模糊综合评价,最终根据评价结果确定山区油气管道地质灾害易发性等级.通过具体实例检验了本文所建立评价方法的应用效果.     

压力脉冲波法复杂天然气管道堵塞检测实验研究*

为了解决复杂天然气管道堵塞定位难题,快速定位出堵塞位置,提出利用压力脉冲波法检测复杂管道堵塞。改造搭建长18.1 m、包含17个三通结构的压力波堵塞检测实验台,进行不同堵塞率以及气液混输管道的堵塞定位实验。结果表明:管道三通会引起频率范围为150~200 Hz的高频反射波,利用FFT谐波变换方法可以有效地对原始信号进行滤波分析,更利于对堵塞定位分析。在堵塞率100%时,定位误差为1.07%;在堵塞率50%时,定位误差最大,达到1.93%;对于含液率8%的气液混输管道,100%堵塞时,定位误差为0.48%。研究结果有效地证实了压力脉冲法检测复杂输运管道堵塞的可行性,可为该方法的现场应用提供指导和数据支撑。     

Numerical investigation of surface conduit parallel gas pipeline explosive based on the TNT equivalent weight method

With the rapid development of petroleum industry, the transport pipelines of oil and gas are increasingly constructed to minimize land use conflicts. Therefore, the parallel pipelines are unavoidable in order to save land resource, reduce the pipeline construction and maintenance costs. The economy and security of pipeline laying and running is the primary problem considered in pipeline construction, which the parallel spacing plays a decisive role to. The leakage of natural gas is very serious and dangerous due to its flammable and combustible. The explosive of leak gas causes impact failure to parallel pipeline. Specific to the surface conduit parallel gas pipeline, numerical simulation of leak natural gas explosive was carried out based on TNT equivalent weight method. Explosive damage degree of pipeline decreased with the pipeline distance increasing. Consulting with the pipeline ovalization strain design criteria and the combustion effect, the safety parallel natural gas pipeline space maybe at least 4 m to ensure the surface conduit parallel pipeline safely and steadily operation.     

Numerical and experimental study on the generation and propagation of negative wave in high-pressure gas pipeline leakage

Negative-wave-based leakage detection and localization technology has been widely used in the pipeline system to diminish leak loss and enhance environmental protection from hazardous leak events. However, the fluid mechanics behind the negative wave method has yet been disclosed. The objective of this paper is to investigate the generation and propagation of negative wave in high-pressure pipeline leakage. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) study on the negative wave was carried out with large eddy simulation (LES) method. Experimentally validated simulation presented the transient wave generation at the leak onset and the comprehensive wave evolution afterwards. Negative wave was proven to be a kind of rarefaction acoustic waves induced by transient mass loss at the onset of leakage. Diffusion due to the density difference at wave fronts drives the negative wave propagation. Propagation of negative wave can be categorized into three states – semi-spherical wave, wave superposition and plane wave, based on different wave forms. The wave characteristics at different states were elucidated and the attenuation effects were discussed respectively. Finally, a non-dimensional correlation was proposed to predict the negative wave amplitude based on pipeline pressure and leak diameter.     

Integrated-signal-based leak location method for liquid pipelines

Leaks in pipelines can cause major incidents resulting in both human injuries and financial losses. Among the considerable leak detection and location methods, the Negative Pressure Wave (NPW) based method has been widely used in locating leaks in liquid pipelines. The NPW based method only monitors the pressure changes at two ends of a pipeline. But the pressure is apt to be fixed by the end equipment and the change of it induced by a small or slow leakage is too small to be detected, which limit the application of the NPW based method in these situations. This paper presents a novel leak location method based on integrated signal, which is a combination of the pressure and flow rate signals. The representation of the integrated signal is derived from the transient analysis of the leakage. For the change of the integrated signal induced by a leakage is larger than the pressure change and it is also unaffected by the end equipment, the proposed method can be used to detect and locate small or slow leakage in a pipeline and can also be used in pipelines which end pressures are fixed by some kinds of equipment. The validation of the proposed method also confirms its advantages.     

压力管道泄漏声发射源定位的实验研究

结合实验室声发射仪和油气管道设备,建立了充气管道泄漏声发射检测系统模型,分别在传感器间距、管道压力和泄漏量三种变化状态下进行了泄漏源定位影响实验。对管道泄漏声发射信号的时域统计特征、频域分布特征以及泄漏信号的相关性作了分析;从声信号能量累计和衰减特性方面对互相关定位法和幅度衰减测量区域定位法的可行性进行了计算,表明在传感器间距较小和泄漏量较小的状态下,在背景噪声较小的环境中,用互相关法具有较好的定位精度;而幅度衰减测量区域定位方法对泄漏源的定位误差较大。     

鲸鱼优化算法下气体泄漏源波达方向估计法

为减小压力容器气体泄漏实时位置估算误差,准确监测容器工况,首先,从声学监测角度提出一种引入鲸鱼优化算法(WOA)的泄漏源估计方法,采用波达方向(DOA)估计法预测气体泄漏位置方向,获得泄漏源角坐标;然后,引入WOA自适应选择方法分解DOA的特征值,多次迭代得到最精确的泄漏位置;最后,以某化工厂中压力容器数据为实际算例,...     

基于时序片段的油气管道运行工况识别方法*

为准确识别管道系统运行工况,提高对油气管道突发事故的响应速度,综合提升管网安全管理水平,提出1种基于时序片段的油气管道运行工况识别方法。首先,构建基于概率分布的状态变化识别模型,提取油气管道中不同运行状态点;其次,建立基于时间序列片段的工况识别模型,快速识别不同时间长度内油气管道运行工况;最后,以国内某成品油管道为例进行方法验证。研究结果表明:该方法可有效识别成品油管道阀门开关状态、泵异常停机和阀门内漏3种运行工况。对比传统的识别方法,该方法可降低状态变化点的漏报率,提升管道运行工况识别的准确率。研究结果可为油气管道系统运行工况识别提供新的借鉴方法。     

天然气管道不同孔径泄漏失效概率量化方法研究*

为研究不同孔径泄漏下天然气管道失效概率,首先基于EGIG数据库和UKOPA数据库天然气管道历史失效数据,计算由不同失效原因导致3种孔径泄漏所占比例;然后将我国管道各原因基础失效概率按照对应比例分别进行修正,获得较适用于我国天然气管道特点的不同孔径泄漏基础失效概率;最后分别考虑第三方破坏、腐蚀、施工缺陷/材料失效、误操作、自然力破坏5种失效原因,完成对天然气管道不同孔径泄漏基础失效概率的修正计算。研究结果表明:小孔泄漏、中孔泄漏和破裂泄漏的基础失效概率分别为0.173,0.128,0.048次/（103 km·a）;修正因子包括管径、埋深、壁厚、管龄、防腐层类型、管道所处区域,上述因子能够满足不同场景下天然气管道失效概率的修正计算;概率量化方法综合考虑失效原因、泄漏孔径以及管道本体信息,能够定量化预测天然气管道失效概率,为天然气管道定量风险评价提供数据支撑。     

Two leaks detection in viscoelastic pipeline systems by means of transient

This paper presents a technique for detecting and locating leaks in a single viscoelastic pipe, by means of transient analysis. The system studied is a reservoir-pipe-valve structure. The viscoelastic behavior of the pipe wall material is modeled by a generalized KelvinVoigt model. To determine the leak location, the mathematical formulation has been solved by the method of characteristics. The approach by the method of characteristics is often chosen because it is based on the concept of acoustic wave propagation which is the main mechanism of all transient events considered. The presence of the two leaks in a pipe partially reflects pressure waves initiated by the sudden closure of a downstream shut-off valve. These waves affect the shape and the amplitude of the time-history-pressure. The computed results describe the influence of the presence of two leaks on pressure time-history and the effect of leaks locations and sizes on the pressure signal behavior. The effect of the pipe wall viscoelasticity on the two leaks detection and sizing is also discussed. The leaks discharges are determined by resolving two independent equations derived from literatures and based on transient analysis. The friction and leaks depths effects on two leaks locations and sizing are involved.     

天然气管道泄漏爆炸后果评价模型对比分析

天然气管道失效可能导致多种严重后果,爆炸灾害给周围的人员和建筑物造成重大的危害,对其爆炸危害范围的评价进行研究具有重要现实意义。笔者综合分析蒸气云爆炸(VCE)定量评价模型和API pub 581后果评价模型;并以某输气管道为实例对爆炸后果进行了定量模拟评价;得到死亡区域与泄漏时间的关系,确定了其爆炸事故的伤害范围;对两种模型的评价结果进行了对比分析。爆炸后果评价模型的研究与其对比探讨,为今后输气管线的定量风险后果评价模型选取提供参考依据。     

基于遗传-神经网络算法的含均匀腐蚀缺陷油气管线爆破压力预测研究*

为提高含均匀腐蚀缺陷油气管线爆破压力的预测精度，保障长输油气管线的安全运行，将遗传算法和BP神经网络相结合，建立含均匀腐蚀缺陷油气管线爆破压力预测的遗传-BP神经网络（GA-BPNNs）模型。采用已有文献实验数据，分析对比该模型与AGA NG-18，ASME B31G，修正B31G，PCORRC，DNV RP-F101和SHELL 92等方法用于X46，X52，X60，X65，X80等材质油气管线含均匀腐蚀缺陷时爆破压力的计算误差。结果表明:GA-BPNNs模型用于含均匀腐蚀缺陷油气管线爆破压力预测时，误差在-7.78%～6.06%之间，预测精度明显高于目前国内外通用规范的计算结果；该模型操作简单，适用范围广，工程实用性好，为含缺陷压力管道爆破压力的预测提供更好的思路和方案。