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Leakage detection and leakage location in supply networks

  • US 10,401,250 B2
  • Filed: 10/27/2011
  • Issued: 09/03/2019
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2010
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for leakage detection and leakage location in an area of a fluid supply network including a network of fluid flow lines and a plurality of flow sensors arranged at different points in the network of fluid flow lines, the method comprising:

  • dividing the supply network into a plurality of network subsections, wherein at least some network subsections share at least one fluid flow line and at least one flow sensor with at least one other network subsection, such that the network subsections overlap each other geographically, the at least some network subsections including a first network subsection and a second network subsection that share at least one fluid flow line and at least one flow sensor with each other and have a comparable consumption profile, wherein the entire water consumption is measurable for each network subsection;

    determining a regression curve of the inflow for the first and second network subsections that are comparable by;

    for each of a plurality of measurement times during a period of normal operation and assumed leak-free operation of the supply network, plotting a data point in a multi-axis coordinate system including a first axis representing a measure of flow in a first network subsection and a second axis representing a measure of flow in a second network subsection, each data point indicating an inflow for the first network subsection along the first axis and an inflow for the second network subsection along the second axis, andcalculating a regression curve based on the plurality of data points using robust regression methods,receiving, via a user interface, user input defining both;

    a first region of confidence relative to the regression curve and defining a first allowable range of difference between the measured flow in the first network subsection and the regression curve, anda second region of confidence relative to the regression curve and defining a second allowable range of difference between the measured flow in the second network subsection and the regression curve,wherein each of the user-defined first region of confidence and second region of confidence is selected based on respective infrastructure details associated with each of the first network subsection and the second network subsection, andwherein measurement values that fall within both the first region of confidence and the second region of confidence indicate zero leakage;

    during a normal operation of the supply network, using one or more flow sensors to measure a respective inflow for each network subsection within a defined measurement period without disrupting the normal operation of the respective network subsection;

    generating time series of measurement values of the inflow for the first and second network subsections over a number of measurement periods; and

    comparing the time series of the measurement values of the inflow with the regression curve, including;

    entering the time series of the measurement values into the multi-axis coordinate system including first and second axes representing the measure of flow in the first and second network subsections;

    determining whether each measurement value falls within both the user-defined first region of confidence and the user-defined second region of confidence,determining that a particular measurement value falls outside the user-defined first region of confidence or the user-defined second region of confidence, and identifying a leakage in response to such determination, andidentify a location of the leakage based on the location of the particular measurement value relative to the regression curve in the multi-axis coordinate system,such that the leakage and the location of the leakage are identified automatically, without human intervention at the identified location of the leakage, and without disrupting the normal operation of the fluid supply network,in response to identifying the leakage, automatically communicating a leakage alarm to a control unit for the supply network, andin response to the leakage alarm, automatically controlling at least one valve to seal off at least one fluid flow line or reroute a fluid flow in the network of fluid flow lines.

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