Fault detection in fluid flowing pipes using acoustic method

Abstract

The thickness of piping systems in oil, chemical and processing plants may reduce over time due to wear or corrosion causing leakage. The operations of the processes are influenced by blockage of pipelines due to deposition of foreign substances or internal products. These led to the development of different techniques for the assessment of pipe integrity. The fast and noninvasive, acoustic method is an alternative tool of conventional techniques for fault detection in liquid and gas flowing pipelines. A relationship between the sound speed and a few physical parameters of the pipe like thickness, diameter, wall material constants and fluid constants exist which can be used for leak detection. Location, size and the nature of blockage can be detected with the help of associated propagation and scattering of acoustic signal. Similarly previously developed simple correlations between the flow velocity and the acoustic energy caused by the gas leakage in long gas pipelines can be used for diagnosis and localization of the pipeline leakage. © Research India Publications.