Monitoring of Distributed Pipeline Systems by Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper describes a sensor network platform for pipeline system monitoring. Pipeline systems are widely used for distribution and transportation of petroleum, natural gas, water, and sewage. Leaks and ruptures due to an aging and fast decaying pipeline system infrastructure cost millions of dollars a year; they also make clear the necessity for continuous, automatic monitoring systems that can provide early detection and early warning of defects, such as corrosion and leaks, before they reach the magnitude of a major disaster. In this paper, we discuss how sensor networks can detect, localize, and quantify bursts, leaks and other anomalies in pipeline systems. Lamb waves are guided ultrasonic waves that can propagate for considerable distances in plates. Research has shown that it is possible to detect flaws over a large area with active sensing devices such as Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) for simultaneous actuation and sensing. PZT sensors can be mounted on the curve surface of the pipelines for generating and measuring guided waves that propagate along the pipes. A network of PZT actuators/sensors provide a real-time continuous and automatic monitoring of the health of the pipeline systems. Complications that encountered in Lamb wave propagation include the existence of multiple propagation modes and the dispersive nature of the modes, which makes the sensing, communication, and control a difficult task. In this paper, we will address the detection and localization problems for the proposed acoustic sensor networks using signal processing techniques. We will discuss strategies to deal with the Lamb wave dispersive propagation to achieve reasonable performance for real-time monitoring.