Liquid pipeline operators look to leak detection systems to provide continuous surveillance of their pipelines across a wide range of operating conditions; this is particularly the case for batch pipelines.
Operators frequently anticipate that on-line transient modeling systems can satisfy this requirement, which they can, but have little exposure to the on-line measurement data requirements of such systems. There can be a mistaken focus on improving the quality of the real-time data normally available to facilitate pipeline operations, without due regard to providing the measurement data that the model needs.
Pipeline operators are normally not concerned with a detailed characterization of fluid properties, other than in the most general sense regarding the susceptibility of adjacent fluids to mix at their interface.
This paper illustrates how the lack of reliable fluid property data (specifically, bulk modulus data) can substantially impede the effectiveness of a transient model charged with the task of leak detection.
