Yohei Asada, Masaomi Kimura, Issaku Azechi, Toshiaki Iida, Naritaka Kubo
Received 2019/11/12, Accepted 2020/01/30, Published 2020/03/20

Yohei Asada¹⁾, Masaomi Kimura¹⁾, Issaku Azechi²⁾, Toshiaki Iida¹⁾, Naritaka Kubo¹⁾

1) Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan
2) Institute for Rural Engineering, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Japan

Numerous leak detection methods have been developed for pipeline systems because of the shortage of water resources, increased water demand, and leak accidents. These methods have their advantages and disadvantages in terms of cost, labor, and accuracy; therefore, it is important to narrow down the location of a leak as easily, rapidly, and accurately as possible. This study applies the technologies based on the execution of a transient event (transient test-based technologies (TTBTs)), and a model is presented for representing the relation between the leak location and the damping of the pressure transient due to the leakage. The model is verified with laboratory experiments in which the leak location can be narrowed down to be less than 10% to 30% of the total pipe length. The model is found to be more effective if the leak location is nearer to the upstream end. In addition, the leak location found by the damping model varies with an approximate absolute error of 2% to 5% of the pipe length. It is suggested that the damping model is suitable for narrowing down and not for finding the leak location, and should be used in combination with other leak detection methods.

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Copyright (c) 2020 The Author(s) CC-BY 4.0