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Determining the Leak Detection Range of Transient Wave-based Reflection method in Water Conveyance P

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International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)

e-ISSN: 2395-0056

Volume: 12 Issue: 07 | Jul 2025

p-ISSN: 2395-0072

www.irjet.net

Determining the Leak Detection Range of Transient Wave-based Reflection method in Water Conveyance Pipes. Asiedu Sarpong1 1College of Water Conservancy & Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, China.

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Abstract – The transient wave-based reflection method

the hydro-environment cannot be underestimated. To effectively conserve water resources and its usage, it is imperative that these pipe anomalies are well attended to, mitigated, or possibly, totally prevented from occurring. The focus of this paper is on the leak anomaly, which is a very common threat to pipelines in all sections of engineering field. Leakage causes both environmental degradation, health issues (water contaminants through leakages from biological, chemical, and physical means), and economic loss. There are so many leak detection techniques which have been in practice over the past decades. To mention a few; Ground Penetrating Radar [1], Acoustic Correlator [2], Tethered method [3], and Transient wave-based methods [4,5]. The transient wavebased methods have been extensively been researched and applied to urban water pipes in the past few years. They can further be grouped under two main categories; (i) full-waveform inversion (FWI) method, and (ii) local feature based method [6–8]. The full-wave method is grouped into either, (a) time domain method [7,9,10], or (b) frequency domain method [7,8,11–13]. The local feature-based utilizes partial leak-induced information, and it is divided into the following; (i) reflection-based method [7,14,15]; (ii) damping-based method [7,16–18]; and (iii) frequency response function (FRF) peak patternbased method [7,19,20]. This work focuses on the reflection-based method, which is also known as the transient wave-based reflection (TWR) method [21]. This method takes into consideration the partial reflection of the pressure wave that takes place at the leak, which then makes it possible for the location and discharge behaviour of the leak to be assessed [12]. The TWR utilizes the first period of the transient wave to detect and localize the leak along the pipeline. The main objective of this work is to determine at what range along the pipeline is the TWR capable of localizing a leak, particularly in long conveyance pipes. This work would be executed as follows; (i) to highlight the governing equations for the model; (ii) to numerically analyse the transient wave in leakage pipes; (iii) to validate the model with laboratory experiment; (iv) to determine the leak detection range based on the critical signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR), with the application of wavelet transform; (v) analyse and discuss the results, and; (vi) draw some vital conclusions from the work.

which utilizes the first period of the transient wave to localize a leak has extensively been applied in urban water pipes. To critically analyze its effectiveness in conveyance pipes, the objective of this work is to determine at what range the method is capable of detecting and localizing leakage in the target pipe. The 1-D water hammer equations are used which are converted into total differential equations by the method of characteristics with the finite difference method, of which the Brunone’s unsteady friction is incorporated. The model is assumed to be a reservoirpipe-valve system, in which the side discharge valve located downstream is suddenly closed to generate the transient event. To execute this work, first of all the transient waves in both intact and leaking pipes are analyzed, and then validated practically with laboratory experiment, which yielded accurate results. Thereafter, the leak detection range is determined based on the critical signal-to-noiseratio, with the use of wavelet transform as a signal processing technique for deterministic feature extraction in a white Gaussian noise environment. Based on the results, it is shown that the leak detection range of the transient wave-based reflection method in conveyance pipes largely depends on the size of the leak, the standard deviation in the reflected signal, and the location of the leak from the measurement section. Key Words: Conveyance pipe, Leak, Localization, Transient wave, Wavelet transform, Signal-to-noiseratio, White noise.

1.INTRODUCTION The available fresh water on earth is about 0.5 %, which is generally inadequate for human beings’ survival if not well managed. Water plays a major role in every aspect of mankind, and its mismanagement poses a serious detriment to all living things. Pipelines are one of the major means of water transportation, typically, from the source to the point of use. However, pipelines are prone to various anomalies such as, leakage, blockage, and corrosion. Most of the constructed pipelines are aging, been laid under the sea and tall buildings, or been exposed to adverse weather conditions (i.e. rainfall and sunshine). Conveyance pipes (transmission main) used in this paper, transports water from both short and long distances to the point of usage. The importance of conveyance pipelines in

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