Pipeline Integrity Monitoring Using System Impulse Response Free

The impulse response function of a system can be used to predict, detect, and diagnose abnormality in the system. The impulse response function can be extracted indirectly using cross-correlations between a low amplitude pseudo-random binary disturbance and the system’s output. This method is applied to pipeline hydraulics as a means of integrity monitoring. The ability of the method to extract a pipeline’s impulse response function with the presence of data noise is demonstrated. Characteristic changes in the impulse response function as a result of a leak or a dent are identified. Examples show that the impulse response function can be used to detect and locate a leak. However, the impulse response is not sensitive to detect small to moderate-sized dents. The procedure of extracting the pipeline’s impulse response function by cross-correlations is noise-tolerant and can be conducted in the background without interfering pipeline operations.