Measuring and testing – With fluid pressure – Leakage
Patent
1980-11-13
1983-02-08
Ruehl, Charles A.
Measuring and testing
With fluid pressure
Leakage
G01M 324
Patent
active
043721516
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to fault locating apparatus, and more particularly, to automatic fault locating apparatus for a pressurized pipeline.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Commonly fluids flowing through transmission and distribution lines because of leaks or faults escape from such lines, and the presence and location of such faults or leaks should be quickly and precisely determined in order to reduce the fluid loss.
Various apparatus have been developed for locating a fault in a pressurized pipeline.
Known in the prior art are apparatus based on detection of acoustic oscillations produced in a fault area of the pipeline and propagating at the speed of sound in the fluid products being pumped to the ends of the damaged pipeline.
There is known a fault locating apparatus for a pressurized pipeline, comprising a transducer intended for conversion of mechanical oscillation into an electrical signal, an amplifier, a converter of signals into their ratio, and an indicator, connected in series (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 603,804 published Apr. 25, 1978).
This apparatus possesses low expedition properties since a considerable time is required to determine the fault location as it is first necessary to define the route of the pipeline being inspected and further to go all over the pipeline route.
The apparatus also does not possess an adequate noise immunity. As a result, it does not allow the fault location to be determined reliably in pipelines laid in regions with a high level of environmental acoustic noise (for example, in the boundaries of a city, in the neighbourhood of reilway crossings, main highway crossings, industrial enterprises, airplane traffic routes). This is explained by the fact that in these regions the environmental noise is often considerably higher than the noise produced by a fault, and the transducer does not distinguish the useful acoustic oscillation from the background one.
The noise immunity of the apparatus can be improved by placing it directly within the pipeline to be inspected.
Known in the prior art is a fault locating apparatus for a pressurized pipeline, comprising a movable pipeline pig having at least two resilient cups isolating one compartment therebetween wherein the electrical and recording portions of the apparatus are carried (cf. U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,653, patented on Nov. 26, 1968).
In order to locate the fault, the apparatus in question is placed inside the pipeline, the recording portion recording output signals of the electrical portion. Then the apparatus is withdrawn from the pipeline, and the records are processed.
However, this apparatus possesses low expedition properties since the data are recorded on a magnetic tape that is to be withdrawn from the pipeline and processed. As a result, a considerable time is required to detect a pipeline fault.
There is also known a fault locating apparatus for a pressurized pipeline, comprising two measuring channels including each a transducer intended for conversion of mechanical oscillation into electrical signals and having an output connected to an amplifier, amplifier outputs being associated with an indicator that is a loop oscillograph (cf. USSR Inventor's Certificate No. 327,425 patented on Jan. 26, 1972).
For the purpose of fault detection, the transducers are installed on the pipeline body at the beginning and at the end of the pressure pipeline portion to be inspected.
The acoustic waves caused by a pipeline fault propagate from the fault area at the speed of sound, the transducers convert these waves into electrical signals recorded on a single oscillogram by the oscillograph loops.
The oscillograms are then visually processed to determine and to measure phase shifts between typical peaks of the acoustic waves and the fault is located by measuring the phase shift between the acoustic waves.
However, the visual processing of the data recorded by the oscillograph lowers the accuracy of the acoustic wave phase shift determination, and, as a result, it brings about a considera
REFERENCES:
patent: 3264864 (1966-08-01), Reid et al.
patent: 3851521 (1974-12-01), Ottenstein
patent: 3930556 (1976-01-01), Kusuda et al.
patent: 4083229 (1978-04-01), Anway
patent: 4289019 (1981-09-01), Claytor
Kublanovsky Lev B.
Muraviev Gennady A.
Adams Bruce L.
Burns Robert E.
Lobato Emmanuel J.
Roskos Joseph W.
Ruehl Charles A.
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