Model falsification diagnosis and sensor placement for leak detection in pressurized pipe networks

Pressurized pipe networks used for fresh-water distribution can take advantage of recent
advances in sensing technologies and data-interpretation to evaluate their performance.
In this paper, a leak-detection and a sensor placement methodology are proposed based
on leak-scenario falsification. The approach includes modeling and measurement
uncertainties during the leak detection process. The performance of the methodology
proposed is tested on a full-scale water distribution network using simulated data.
Findings indicate that when monitoring the flow velocity for 14 pipes over the entire
network (295 pipes) leaks are circumscribed within a few potential locations. The
case-study shows that a good detectability is expected for leaks of 50 L/min or more.
A study of measurement configurations shows that smaller leak levels could also be
detected if additional pipes are instrumented.

Uncontrolled Keywords

System identification, leak detection, sensor placement, data interpretation, water distribution, uncertainty, error-domain model falsification