Portable pressure wave - maker for leak detection and pipe system characterization

AND SILVIA MENICONI nterest in developing accurate and reliable leak detection methodologies has grown considerably within the technical–scientific community in recent years. Because of the change in natural hydrologic yields and growing resource consumption in many places, water recovered from leak detection and reduction efforts is increasingly valuable (Colombo & Karney, 2002). Presently, leak detection campaigns play an important role in pipe system management with real-time monitoring and continuous calibration of numerical models simulating pipe-system behavior. As a consequence, particular attention has been devoted to developing safe and effective leak-detection techniques. Until recently, only steady-state testing techniques were considered. In steady-state conditions, uncertainties about geometrical system characteristics and changes in flow conditions resulting from long test duration cause difficulties in accurate assessment. More encouraging results have been obtained using leak detection approaches based on the execution of fast transients that cause pressure surges compatible with the pipe’s structural integrity. Such approaches are attractive because of their brief duration and modest cost, both in terms of instrumentation and in the time necessary to complete tests. Compared with steady-state techniques, they are • much shorter in duration, significantly reducing interference with the regular functioning of the system and the probability of changes in flow conditions and • less influenced by pipe friction factors.