Experimental and Numerical Investigations of Multi‑leaks Detection in a Nonhomogenous Pipeline System

摘要

This paper focuses on an experimental procedure to localize multiple leaks in a nonhomogenous hydraulic pipeline systemmade up of three portions of two different materials. Then, an experimental setup originally designed for water hammerstudy was modified and adapted for leak detection using transients. Two leaks were made in some particular locations inthe main pipe and a transient event through a rapid closure of a downstream valve was created. To mimic common practicalissues that may be encountered, three main leakage cases were considered; a single leak, two simultaneous leaks and twosuccessive leaks (i.e., one leak that appears followed by an abrupt appearance of a second leak after a period of time). Leakswere experimentally localized by analyzing obtained pressure signals in the excitation point. Results were validated throughcomparison with numerical ones obtained using the method of characteristics. Additionally, a novel formula to localize thesecond leak in a successive leaks scenario was presented and its accuracy was confirmed for our test case. Experimentaltechniques presented in this paper and performed on a test bench at lab scale can be extended and tested on large scalehydraulic pipeline systems.