Formulation and Analysis of the Probability of Detection and False Detection for Subsea Leak Detection Systems

Insuring the integrity of subsea process component is one of the primary business objectives for oil and gas industry. One of the systems used to insure reliability of a pipeline, is the Leak Detection System (LDS). Different leak detection systems use different technologies for detecting and locating leaks that could result from pipelines. One technology in particular that is gaining wide acceptance by the industry is the optical leak detection systems. This technology has great potential for subsea pipelines applications. It is the most suited for underwater applications due to the ease of installation and reliable sensing capabilities. Having pipelines underwater in the deep sea present a greater challenge and a potential threat to the environment and operation. Thus, there is a need to have a reliable and effective system to provide the assurances that the monitored subsea pipeline is safe and functioning as per operating conditions. Two important performance parameters that are of concern to operators are the probability of detection and probability of false alarm. This article presents a probabilistic formulation of the probability of detection and probability of false detection for fiber optic LDS based systems.