LDS Trials: A Dedicated Tool to Enable Realistic Leaks and Measure the Relevant Variables

Certificate a LDS is a complex task. It deals with parameters specified by international acknowledged norms (e. g. the ones of API [1][2] such as reliability, sensitivity and accuracy, usually put in a contract, and audited in a SAT (Site Acceptance Test). The two most important ones respectively, reliability (the most important one) and sensitivity: The first deals with the ability of the system reliably detect any type of leakage, without false alarms, and also without allowing any leak undetected. The second effectively measures the price to detect a leak in terms of accumulated leaked fluid volume up to detection, and the limits of the system (essentially the minimum detectable leak). This paper describes a hardware testing tool (here called a leak trial skid/station) to be used in leak trials, as well as a related testing procedure. The tool is designed to generate both slow and immediate leaks and measure, track (in real time) and record the most important variables like pressure, temperature and flow rate, at the leaking point. Its usage was initially conceived for a gas pipeline, but can be adapted to be used in a liquid one as well. Finally, a procedure for a gas trial is also approached, in a way to profit from the main designed elements and this way provide the core elements requested by the certification process.