Method and apparatus for detecting, identifying and locating anomalous events within a pressurized pipe network
First Claim
1. A method for detecting and identifying an event representing a failure mode and/or a precursor to a failure mode within a pipeline segment or network, comprising:
- using an acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, detecting a passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network;
using an acoustic transmitter acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, transmitting an active acoustic signal to the pipeline segment or network subsequent to the acoustic sensor detecting the passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network;
using the same or a different acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, detecting the active acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; and
processing both the passive acoustic signal and the active acoustic signal to characterize an anomaly within the pipeline segment or network.
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Abstract
Pipeline networks are ubiquitous for transporting fluids. Failure modes may result in a wide spectrum of negative effects ranging from energy loss to revenue loss to catastrophic failure with loss of life. The present invention introduces innovative technology to detect, identify and locate events representing failure modes and/or precursors to failure modes within a pipeline network. The present invention addresses the issues with the prior art based on the following innovations—exploiting the signal processing enabled by detecting a passive acoustic signal in conjunction with both an active reflected acoustic signal and an active transmitted acoustic signal within a pipeline segment. These measurements can be aggregated to reduce the effects of ambient noise and improve the invention'"'"'s ability to detect, identify and locate anomalous events representing failure modes and/or precursors to failure modes within a pipeline network.
14 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method for detecting and identifying an event representing a failure mode and/or a precursor to a failure mode within a pipeline segment or network, comprising:
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using an acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, detecting a passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; using an acoustic transmitter acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, transmitting an active acoustic signal to the pipeline segment or network subsequent to the acoustic sensor detecting the passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; using the same or a different acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network, detecting the active acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; and processing both the passive acoustic signal and the active acoustic signal to characterize an anomaly within the pipeline segment or network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for detecting and identifying an event representing a failure mode and/or a precursor to a failure mode within a pipeline segment or network, comprising:
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an acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network for detecting a passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; an acoustic transmitter acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network for transmitting an active acoustic signal to the pipeline segment or network subsequent to the acoustic sensor detecting the passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; the same or a different acoustic sensor acoustically coupled to the pipeline segment or network for detecting the active acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; and a processor for processing both the passive acoustic signal and the active acoustic signal to characterize an anomaly within the pipeline segment or network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for detecting, identifying and locating an event representing a failure mode and/or a precursor to a failure mode within a pipeline segment or network, comprising:
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providing a first acoustic transducer coupled to the pipeline segment or network on one side of an anomaly; providing a second acoustic transducer coupled to the pipeline segment or network on another side of the anomaly; using the first acoustic transducer to detect a passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; using the first acoustic transducer to transmit an active acoustic signal to the pipeline segment or network subsequent to the first acoustic transducer detecting the passive acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; using the first acoustic transducer to detect a reflected active acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; using the second acoustic transducer to detect the transmitted active acoustic signal from the pipeline segment or network; and processing the passive acoustic signal, the reflected active acoustic signal, and the transmitted active acoustic signal to characterize an anomaly within the pipeline segment or network. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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Specification