Comparison of Leakage Localization Efficiency by Non-intrusive and Intrusive Techniques

Abstract

Water leakage reduces efficiency and increases operating costs. Therefore, active leakage control is essential for faster detection and localization of leaks. Leak noise correlators are effective leak localization tools that analyze the time lag (∆t) of leak noise arriving at two sensors installed on either side of the leak. This study compared the performance of two sensor types: non-intrusive accelerometers and intrusive hydrophones, in a laboratory pipe network with sensor spacing (L) ranging from 6.3 m to 42.83 m. The results showed that: 1) hydrophones provided more accurate results than accelerometers; 2) accuracy tended to decrease with increasing L, but accuracy improved when the leak was near L/2 due to smaller ∆t; 3) inaccurate wave speed (c) values resulted in leak localization errors. The correlator estimated c at 660 m/s, however, optimization revealed that adjusting c to 524.45 m/s for accelerometers reduced the RMSE from 2.82 m to 1.78 m, and adjusting c to 508.09 m/s for hydrophones reduced the RMSE from 2.6 m to 0.10 m. This demonstrates that accurate c values are crucial for effective leak localization.