Parameterized transient model of a pipeline for multiple leaks location

This work deals with the location of multiple leaks in a pipeline when only the flows and pressures of the fluid at the extremes of the line are known. The key of the leaks' detector which should operate in quasi-real-time is the family ℱ of parameterized transient models for all two leaks scenarios in the pipeline. The family ℱ of dynamic models is obtained by considering the equivalence in the steady-state of a leak at position zeq with two leaks. This equivalence reduces the dimension of the unknown parameters' vector in the dynamic model from four to two. To estimate the specific parameters of ℱ, an off-line identification process is suggested which minimizes the quadratic error between the pipeline data and the member of the family. Results of the leak detector with 12 scenarios offered estimation errors less than 1% in all the cases for a water pipeline of 200 [m]. This illustrates the potentiality of the parameterized transient model for the identification of multiple leaks. •Novel parameterized transient model for multiple leaks.•Reduction of unknown parameters in the search region.•Leaks locations errors less than 1%.