Pipeline condition monitoring using pressure wave propagation

无论是为了解决安全、环境和经济问题，还是为了给公众足够的信心来向项目发放社会许可证，管道状况监测都变得越来越重要。 这项提议将通过测量管道的压力波传播特性来测试一种新的持续监测管道健康的方法的可行性。 当压力波被引入到含有液体的管道中时，该波沿管道向下的传播取决于流体的硬度以及包含液体的管道的硬度。当管道受到侵蚀时，管道的壁厚会减小，从而降低管道的刚度，影响系统的波动特性。这会影响波速以及系统的频率和脉冲响应。我们建议，可以使用压力测量来检测管道壁厚的变化，从而实现对管道健康的低成本、持续监测。 这项研究将在萨斯喀彻温大学流体动力实验室进行，该实验室在管道中的波传播方面拥有相当丰富的经验。我们还将与S大学管道腐蚀实验室合作。工业合作伙伴是Mosaic Potash Belle Plain，其解决方案矿涉及许多大容量管道，将卤水输送到钾肥生产井和从钾肥生产井中取出。 该项目的主要好处是改善加拿大管道基础设施的安全，从工业伙伴的管道开始，但将适用于所有液体输送管道。该技术有望降低成本，增加管道检查的频率和覆盖面。最后，这项技术可以由一家加拿大企业商业化，并出口到世界各地的管道运营商。

Pipeline condition monitoring is becoming more and more critical, both to address safety, environmental and economic concerns, as well as to give the public sufficient confidence to grant social license to a project. This proposal will test the feasibility of a novel method of continuously monitoring the health of a pipeline, by measuring its pressure wave propagation characteristics. When a pressure wave is introduced into a pipe containing a liquid, the propagation of that wave down the pipe is governed by the stiffness of the fluid as well as the stiffness of the containing pipeline. As a pipeline is eroded, the wall thickness of the pipe is reduced, which reduces the stiffness of the pipe, affecting the wave properties of the system. This affects the wave speed as well as the frequency and impulse response of the system. We propose that changes in the pipeline wall thickness can be detected using pressure measurements, resulting in a low-cost, continuously monitoring of the health of the pipeline. This research will be carried out in the University of Saskatchewan Fluid Power Laboratory, which has considerable experience in wave propagation in pipelines. We will also collaborate with the U of S pipeline corrosion laboratory. The industrial partner is Mosaic Potash Belle Plain, whose solution mines involve many large-capacity pipelines carrying brine to and from potash-producing wells. This project has the primary benefit of improving the safety of Canada's pipeline infrastructure, beginning with the industrial partner's pipelines, but will be applicable in all liquid-conveying pipelines. The technology is expected to reduce the cost and increase the frequency and coverage of pipeline inspections. Finally, this technology can be commercialized by a Canadian enterprise and exported to pipeline operators worldwide.