Pressure Signal Enhancement of Slowly Increasing Leaks Using Digital Compensator Based on Acoustic Sensor

Pipeline leak detection technologies are critical for the safety protection of pipeline transportation. However, they are insensitive to slowly increasing leaks. Therefore, this study proposes an enhancement method for slowly increasing leak signals. By analyzing the characteristics of pressure signals of slowly increasing leaks, a digital compensator is developed to overcome the disadvantages of pressure signals and enhance the pressure signals. According to the frequency response analysis of the digital compensator, the enhancement principle is the parameter adjustment of the digital compensator. Therefore, this paper further proposes an adaptive adjustment method of the parameter to enhance different degrees of leak signals online in real-time, and the proposed method is evaluated using two field pipelines. The experimental results demonstrate that this method is suitable not only for enhancing slowly increasing leaks but also for enhancing abrupt leaks.