Analysis and design of an in-pipe system for water leak detection

Abstract

Leaks are a major factor for unaccounted water losses in almost every water distribution network. Pipeline leak may result, for example, from bad workmanship or from any destructive cause, due to sudden changes of pressure, corrosion, cracks, defects in pipes or lack of maintenance. The problem of leak becomes even more serious when it is concerned with the vital supply of fresh water to the community. In addition to waste of resources, contaminants may infiltrate into the water supply. The possibility of environmental health disasters due to delay in detection of water pipeline leaks have spurred research into the development of methods for pipeline leak and contamination detection. This thesis is on the analysis and design of a floating mobile sensor for leak detection in water distribution pipes. This work covers the study of two modules, namely a "floating body" along with its "sensing module". The Mobility Module or the floating body was carefully studied and designed using advanced CFD techniques to make the body as non-invasive to the flow as possible and to avoid signal corruption. In addition, experiments were carried out to investigate the effectiveness of using in-pipe measurements for leak detection in plastic pipes. Specifically, acoustic signals due to simulated leaks were measured and studied for designing a detection system to be deployed inside water networks of 100mm pipe size.