Advanced Pipeline Vibroacoustic Monitoring

Remote real-time monitoring of pipelines reliability is becoming a key factor for the environmental sustainability of oil&gas industry. Multipoint Acoustic Sensing (MAS) technology makes use of multi sensors placed at discrete distances to detect Third Party Interference (TPI) and fluid leaks along the pipeline. In fact, any interaction with the pipe generates pressure waves that are guided within the fluid (gas or oil) for long distances, carrying information on the source event. Pressure propagation is mainly governed by the absorption coefficient and the sound speed. These parameters are in turn complicated functions of the frequency, the geometrical and elastic parameters of the pipe shell, the elastic parameters of the surrounding medium, and the acoustic and thermodynamic properties of the transported fluid. We have analyzed these aspects while processing acoustic data collected on crude oil and gas transportation pipelines, in different operational and flow conditions. This study describes the acquisition campaigns and the data analysis steps used for the experimental derivation of fluid properties and pipe anomalies. The results are also used for the validation of mathematical models of pressure waves propagation in fluid filled pipes.