Leak Localization on Cylinder Tank Bottom Using Acoustic Emission

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Non-Destructive Testing
• Acoustic Emission Technology

Background:

• Early failure detection in industrial tanks is crucial for safety and environmental protection.
• Acoustic emission (AE) offers a promising non-destructive method for monitoring structural integrity.
• Existing AE methods for leak localization require refinement for improved accuracy and reliability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an advanced acoustic emission (AE) based scheme for precise leak localization in cylinder tank bottoms.
• To enhance early failure detection capabilities, thereby mitigating financial losses and environmental hazards.
• To improve the reliability of AE-based leak detection systems, even in scenarios with sensor failures.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) and fixed thresholding for acoustic emission (AE) hit detection, determining time of arrival (TOA) and end-time.
• Grouped AE hits from the same source using event definition and similarity scores.
• Utilized time difference of arrival (TDOA) for event localization.
• Applied Voronoi diagram-based data density analysis to pinpoint the most probable leak area.
• Validated the scheme using the Hsu-Nielsen test on a cylinder tank bottom, including a one-failed-sensor scenario.

Main Results:

• The proposed AE scheme successfully detected and localized leaks with high accuracy across multiple test locations.
• The method demonstrated robustness even under a one-failed-sensor condition, indicating reliability in practical applications.
• The combination of TDOA and Voronoi diagram analysis effectively identified the leak source area.

Conclusions:

• The developed acoustic emission (AE) scheme provides an effective and accurate method for leak localization in cylinder tank bottoms.
• This approach significantly enhances early failure detection, offering substantial benefits in preventing financial damage and environmental harm.
• The validated method shows promise for real-world implementation in industrial tank monitoring systems.