Non-intrusive leak monitoring system for pipeline
within a closed space by wireless sensor network
Fang Wang1 , Weiguo Lin1 (Corresponding author), Zheng Liu2 , Liang Kong1 and Xianbo Qiu1
1
College of Information Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China
Email: linwg@mail.buct.edu.cn
2
Faculty of Applied Science, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Canada
Abstract—Non-intrusive detection is critical to protecting the
integrity of pipelines. Based on the wireless sensor network, a
novel leak monitoring system, composed of a computer center, a
coordinator and wireless non-intrusive sensing nodes, is proposed
for pipelines of closed spaces in this paper. The wireless non-
intrusive sensing node with convenient installation and disassem-
bly on the pipeline wall is designed. The proposed system can
achieve signal synchronous sampling of all wireless non-intrusive
sensing nodes by the coordinator wirelessly broadcasting the
time information from its GPS to them, which is significant to
guarantee the accuracy of the leak location. Based on the delay
cross-correlation analysis, a leak location method is presented for
multiple sensors. And experimental results demonstrate that the
proposed system can accurately detect and locate pipeline leaks.
Index Terms—pipeline, non-intrusive leak detection, leak loca-
tion, wireless sensor network
I. I NTRODUCTION
Nowadays, pipelines are the main transportation ways for
energies such as water, crude oil, natural gas, chlorine gas
[1–3]. Because of age, corrosion or damage by a third party,
they often suffer from leaks which result in energy waste,
property loss and even more severe safety accidents, especially
for the flammable, explosive, toxic media [4–6]. Therefore, the
monitoring of a pipeline leak is crucial.
According to whether the installation of a sensor would
destroy the integrity of the pipeline, leak detection methods
can be split into invasive ones and non-invasive ones. Since
the latter do not introduce hidden dangers such as weld
quality, they have become a kind of mainstream methods and
mainly include sensing cable method, soil monitoring method,
ultrasonic flow meter method and smart ball method [7, 8].
Sensing cable methods such as the fiber optical, electrical,
liquid or vapor sensing cables are based on laying a long
sensing cable along the outside of a pipeline. The fiber optical
method can detect a pipeline leak by monitoring temperature,
strain, or acoustic signals along the pipeline [9–11]. This
method has been widely applied in pipeline leak detection
thanks to its high sensitivity and reliability [12, 13]. The
electrical cable method can monitor a pipeline leak based
on the changes of electrical properties of the electrical cable
when it contacts to the leak medium [14, 15]. However, the
laying and maintenance of these methods are often costly and
difficult, especially for underground pipelines.
With the help of the moving devices or the probes installed
in the soil, the soil monitoring method detects a leak by
‹,(((
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
monitoring whether the soil contains the tracer chemical added
in the transport medium [1, 14]. However, this method is
only suitable for monitoring leaks of buried pipelines, and the
detection cost is very high.
A pipeline is segmented by ultrasonic flow meters which
can measure the flow rate of the pipeline without cutting it.
According to the volume balance of each segment, a leak can
be monitored [16]. However, this method is also costly, not
applicable to pipelines with branches and difficult for buried
pipelines [1, 14].
The smart ball method uses a smart ball swimming with
the transport medium to acquire acoustic signals [1, 17]. This
method has a high sensitivity for small leaks. However, its
detection is not continuous and is susceptible to pump noise.
Therefore, this paper presents an economical and effective
non-intrusive leak monitoring system to detect leak acoustic
signals. And the organization of the paper is: Section II
describes the non-intrusive leak monitoring system including
the design of the wireless non-intrusive sensing node (II-A),
the functions of the coordinator (II-B), and the implemen-
tation of signal synchronous sampling for all wireless non-
intrusive sensing nodes [18, 19] (II-C); Section III introduces
the detailed leak detection and location method; Section IV
shows the experimental results; and Section V presents the
conclusions.
II. D ESIGN OF THE NON - INTRUSIVE LEAK MONITORING
SYSTEM
Based on the theory of Material Mechanics, the pipeline
strain ε is [12]:
PR
ε= (1)
Eδ
Where P is the internal pressure of the pipeline, R is the
pipeline radius, E is the Young’s modulus of the pipeline, and
δ is the pipeline wall thickness.
When a pipeline leak occurs, the pressure P will drop.
According to (1), the pipeline strain ε will vary proportionally
with the pressure P . Therefore, the leak can be detected by
monitoring the strain ε. In this paper, wireless non-intrusive
sensing nodes are deployed along the pipeline to monitor
pipeline strain ε, act as cluster members and transmit their
measurements wirelessly to the coordinator at the computer
center, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. System architecture of the non-intrusive leak monitoring.
A. Wireless Non-intrusive Sensing Node
The wireless non-intrusive sensing nodes can not only
wirelessly communicate with the coordinator but also syn-
chronously sample signals without equipped GPS in them-
selves. The sensing node consists of an integrated circuit and a
case. The integrated circuit includes the piezoelectric pressure
sensor, signal conditioning circuit (charge amplifier, voltage
amplifier, high pass filter and low pass filter), microprocessor
(STM32), and wireless communication module (XBee), as
shown in Fig. 2. It mainly has three functions.
Fig. 2. Integrated circuit of the wireless non-intrusive sensing node.
Firstly, it converts the pipeline strain ε into voltage sig-
nals through the piezoelectric pressure sensor and the signal
conditioning circuit. Secondly, its microprocessor acquires the
signals based on the time stamp from the XBee to ensure the
sampling time synchronization of all wireless non-intrusive
sensing nodes. And the microprocessor also packs the acquired
signals, node number, time stamp and flag into a data package.
Finally, its XBee wirelessly sends the data package to the
coordinator and receives the time stamp which is wirelessly
broadcasted from the coordinator.
The case is designed for easy installation of the wireless
non-intrusive sensing node on the pipeline wall and effective
contact between them. It consists of an instrument sleeve, a
sensor sleeve, a flat beam, and two neodymium iron boron
(Nd-Fe-B) magnets, as shown in Fig. 3. These parts are formed
into a whole by threads. And the installation steps of the
wireless non-intrusive sensing node are as follows:
Step 1. Place the integrated circuit in the instrument sleeve
and tighten threads of the piezoelectric pressure sensor and
the sensor sleeve.
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Step 2. Connect the circuit with the piezoelectric pressure
sensor by a signal line and tighten threads of the sensor sleeve
and the instrument sleeve.
Step 3. Fix the flat beam on the pipeline wall by two Nd-
Fe-B magnets.
Step 4. Tighten threads of the flat beam and the piezoelectric
pressure sensor. Figure 4 shows the installation diagram of the
wireless non-intrusive sensing node and its physical map is
illustrated in Fig. 5.
Fig. 3. External case. Fig. 4. Installation diagram.
Fig. 5. Physical map of the wireless non-intrusive sensing node.
In order to ensure that the sensor and the pipeline wall can
be in effective contact, the thread of the sensor has a certain
margin in the design. That is, the sum of the internal thread
length l1 of the sensor sleeve and the internal thread length
l2 of the flat beam is less than the effective length l3 of the
sensor ((l1 + l2 ) < l3 ), as shown in Fig. 6.
During the tightening of the sensor (the sensor and the
sensor sleeve as a whole) and the flat beam, the external force
Q applied to the sensor by the hand is constant and is greater
than the thread resistance torque M1 , which can be described
as:
1
Q > M1 = dQ tan(λ + ϕ) (2)
2
Where d is the medium diameter of the thread, λ is the angle
between the thread and the vertical plane of its axis (denoted
as lead angle), and ϕ is the friction angle.

Fig. 6. Effective length of parts.
When the sensor is in contact with the pipeline wall, it
will be subjected to the resistance F of the pipeline wall. If
Q = M1 + F , the sensor will be stationary. At this time, if the
hand continues to rotate to the right, due to the role of thread
margin and the still sensor, the sensor sleeve will retract and
move down the sensor thread until it comes into contact with
the flat beam. And the stress analysis is:
1
Q = M1 + F > M 2 = dQ tan(λ − ϕ) (3)
2 wirelessly. In order to realize signal synchronous sampling,
Where M2 is the thread resistance torque between the sensor
and the sensor sleeve. At this point, the wireless non-intrusive
sensing node is effectively installed on the pipeline wall.
B. Coordinator
The coordinator is the center of the non-intrusive leak
monitoring system. Fig. 7 shows its functions. It receives
the time stamp from its GPS and sends that to all wireless
non-intrusive sensing nodes by wireless broadcast. And the
time stamp is crucial to the signal synchronous sampling
of all wireless non-intrusive sensing nodes. Additionally, the
coordinator wirelessly receives data package from all non-
intrusive sensing nodes and sends these data to the computer
by USB.
Fig. 7. Coordinator structure.
C. Signal Synchronous Sampling
Based on the delay cross-correlation analysis, the classic
leak location is [20]:
1 the judgment of pipeline leak based on the wavelet packet
x= (L + a × Δt) (4)
2 entropy (WPE). It uses a width window sliding through the
Where x is the distance between the upstream sensor and
the leak point; L is the distance between the upstream and
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
downstream sensors; a is the propagation velocity of acoustic
signals inside the pipeline; Δt is the time difference of the
upstream and downstream leak signals, and its accuracy is
determined by the time error of signal sampling. Therefore, it
is crucial whether acoustic signals of all non-intrusive sensors
are synchronously sampled.
A general method of signal synchronous sampling is
achieved by GPS synchronous timing, which not only requires
each non-intrusive sensing node to be equipped with a GPS
antenna and receiver but also requires the GPS antenna to be
installed in an open position without barriers. These character-
istics definitely limit the application of this method in a closed
space. Therefore, this paper proposes a time synchronization
technology based on wireless sensor network.
The wireless communication module XBee has a simple
interface, small package, transmission distance up to 1600 m,
and is suitable for long-distance networking requirements. In
this paper, it has been integrated into the non-intrusive sensing
nodes and the coordinator so that they can communicate
a two-phase collaborative strategy is adopted:
In the first phase, the GPS module (Ublox-NEO-6M) of
the coordinator generates pulse per second (PPS) while it out-
puts the GPS information (date, time, latitude and longitude,
altitude, etc.). Then the microprocessor interrupt of the coordi-
nator is triggered by PPS to receive the GPS information. And
the microprocessor filters out the time stamp (date and time)
and transmits them to the XBee module of the coordinator by
the serial port. Finally, the XBee module wirelessly broadcasts
the time stamp to all non-intrusive sensing nodes.
In the second phase, the XBee module of each non-intrusive
sensing node generates the Received Signal Strength Indica-
tion (RSSI) while it receives the time stamp from the coordi-
nator. On the one hand, the RSSI triggers the microprocessor
interrupt of the sensing node to modify its timer for ADC
sampling, which can eliminate the timing error caused by
the crystal drift. On the other hand, the RSSI can transmit
across layers, which eliminates the time offset in the reception
delay and ensures high-precision synchronous sampling of all
sensing nodes. Therefore, the synchronous sampling of the
signal is achieved. Fig. 8 shows the schematic diagram of
signal synchronous sampling implementation.
III. I MPLEMENTATION OF LEAK DETECTION AND
LOCATION
After the acoustic signals are transmitted to the computer
center, they are processed and analyzed for leak detection
and location. In this paper, only the case of a single leak is
considered.
A. Leak Detection
Reference [21] explored a simple and effective method for
acoustic signal with an appropriate step length and calculates
the WPE of the signal in each width window. If the maximum
 Case 2. Due to the effect of propagation attenuation and leak
aperture, when the leak acoustic signal is small, not all sensors
along the pipeline can sense the leak acoustic signal. In the
phase of leak detection, it can determine the detection status of
each sensor for the leak acoustic signal. If the acoustic signal
of the i-th sensor is identified as a leak signal, its detection
status s(i) is marked as 1. Otherwise, it is 0.
For the adjacent sensors, if s(i) and s(i + 1) are both 1, the
xi,i+1 is:
1
xi,i+1 = (Li,i+1 + aΔti,i+1 ) (8)
2
And if at least one sensor has not sensed the leak acoustic
signal (s(i) = 0, s(i + 1) = 0; s(i) = 0, s(i + 1) = 1; s(i) =
1, s(i + 1) = 0), the xi,i+1 is ∅.
Based on the analysis, the xi,i+1 can be described as:
 1
xi,i+1 = 2 (Li,i+1 + aΔti,i+1 ), s(i) ∧ s(i + 1) = 1
∅, s(i) ∧ s(i + 1) = 0
Fig. 8. Implementation of signal synchronous sampling. (9)
According to (7), the leak location x is:
 j−1 
value of the WPE exceeds the threshold, the acoustic signal is j−1
 n−1
 

considered as a leak signal. Otherwise, it is a normal signal. x= Li,i+1 + xi,i+1 , j  s(i) = 1 (10)

i=1 i=1 i=1
B. Leak Location When j = 1, (10) represents the leak location of the case 1.
The pipeline is divided into n − 1 segments by n sensors Therefore, according to (10), a leak location can be achieved
installed on it. When a leak occurs between the i-th and (i+1)- for multiple non-intrusive sensing nodes.
th sensors, there are two cases:
IV. E XPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Case 1. All sensors can sense the leak acoustic signal. For
the sensors (1, 2, ..., i − k − 1, i − k, ..., i − 1, i) before the i-th A. Leak tests
sensor, since the signal propagates from the (i − k)-th sensor The experimental platform is shown in Fig. 9 and its detailed
to the (i − k − 1)-th sensor, the time difference Δti−k−1,i−k parameters are displayed in Table I. The pipeline is divided
is: into 3 segments by 4 non-intrusive sensing nodes. And the
distance between adjacent nodes is 12 m, 40 m and 28 m
Δti−k−1,i−k = ti−k−1 − ti−k (Fig. 10(a)), respectively. Since the pipeline network has 24
= (ti−k + Li−k−1,i−k /a) − ti−k (5) standard 90◦ elbows, according to (11), the equivalent distance
is L1,2 =17.44 m, L2,3 =53.60 m and L3,4 =41.60 m (Fig. 10(b)).
= Li−k−1,i−k /a
Where Li−k−1,i−k is the distance between the (i − k)-th TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PLATFORM
sensor and the (i − k − 1)-th sensor. Hence, based on (4), the
xi−k−1,i−k is: Parameter Value
Pipeline length 112.64 m
Pressure 0.22 MPa
1 Acoustic sensor sensitivity 50000 pC/MPa
xi−k−1,i−k = (Li−k−1,i−k + a × Δti−k−1,i−k )
2 Pipeline Diameter 48 mm
1 (6)
Wall thickness 4 mm
= (Li−k−1,i−k + a × Li−k−1,i−k /a) Leak apertures 2 mm, 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm
2 Sampling frequency 50 Hz
= Li−k−1,i−k
Similarity, for the sensors (i + 1, i + 2, ..., i + j, i + j +
1, ..., n − 1, n) after the (i + 1)-th sensor, since the signal L = 34 × D (11)
propagates from the (i + j)-th sensor to the (i + j + 1)-th Where D is the pipeline inner diameter, and L is the
sensor, the time difference Δti+j,i+j+1 is (−Li+j,i+j+1 /a) equivalent length after the 90◦ elbow is converted.
and the xi+j,i+j+1 is 0. Hence, the leak location x is : Based on the electric ball valve with exchangeable plugs
n−1
of different diameters (2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm), as shown in
 Fig. 11, different leak apertures were simulated. And each leak
x= xi,i+1 (7)
aperture experiment was performed 8 times.
i=1

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 Fig. 12. Time domain waveforms of leak signals.

TABLE II
L OCATION RESULTS

Leak apertures Sample index Location (m) Error (m)

Fig. 9. Experiment platform. 1 35.27 2.05
2 34.01 0.79
5 mm
3 34.94 1.72
4 35.36 2.14
1 35.10 1.88
2 36.35 3.13
4 mm
3 35.10 1.88
4 30.09 -3.20
1 34.29 1.07
2 37.58 4.36
3 mm
3 36.00 2.78
4 35.29 2.07
1 30.21 -3.01
2 36.24 3.02
2 mm
3 35.18 1.96
4 37.25 4.03

Fig. 10. Schematic diagram of non-intrusive sensing node distribution.

V. C ONCLUSIONS

In this paper, a non-intrusive leak monitoring system is

B. Results
Figure 12 shows the time domain waveforms of leak signals
with different apertures. According to the leak detection and
location method (Section III), Table II shows partial location
results. As can be seen, the location error is within ±4.5m.
That indicates the non-intrusive leak monitoring system is ef-
fective, including the accuracy of signal synchronous sampling
method and the effectiveness of the leak location method.
presented. It consists of non-intrusive sensing node sensing
leak acoustic signals, the coordinator wirelessly broadcasting
time stamp and receiving data package, and the computer
center processing signals for leak detection and location. Based
on mechanical principle, the non-intrusive sensing node is
designed with easy installation and adjustment. Additionally,
combined with the hardware and software, all sensing nodes
can synchronously sample acoustic signals without equipped
GPS themselves. Compared with traditional intrusive methods,
the proposed system can be applied to a closed space and
can accurately detect pipeline leaks without damaging the
pipeline. To sum up, all the experimental results indicate that
the proposed system can achieve a lower location error and
provide a new technical means for pipeline leak detection.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work is supported by the National Key Research and

Fig. 11. The electric ball valve and plugs. Development Program of China (2016YFC0801913-06).

Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 R EFERENCES
[1] B. M. S. Arifin, Z. Li, S. L. Shaha, G. A. Meyer,
and A. Colinb, “A novel data-driven leak detection and
localization algorithm using the kantorovich distance,”
Computers and Chemical Engineering, vol. 108, pp. 300–
313, 2018.
[2] F. A. Batzias, C. G. Siontorou, and P. M. P. Spanidis,
“Designing a reliable leak bio-detection system for natu-
ral gas pipelines,” Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol.
186, pp. 35–58, 2011.
[3] J. Li, Q. Zheng, Z. Qian, and X. Yang, “A novel location
algorithm for pipeline leakage based on the attenuation
of negative pressure wave,” Process Safety and Environ-
mental Protection, vol. 123, pp. 309–316, 2019.
[4] A. Soldevila, R. M. Fernandez-Cantia, J. Blesa, S. Tornil-
Sina, and V. Puig, “Leak localization in water distribution
networks using bayesian classifiers,” Journal of Process
Control, vol. 55, pp. 1–9, 2017.
[5] W. Q. Lu, L. B. Zhang, W. Liang, and X. C. Yu,
“Research on a small-noise reduction method based on
emd and its application in pipeline leakage detection,”
Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,
vol. 41, pp. 282–293, 2016.
[6] X. C. Yu, W. Liang, L. B. Zhang, H. Jin, and J. W.
Qiu, “Dual-tree complex wavelet transform and svd
based acoustic noise reduction and its application in leak
detection for natural gas pipeline,” Mechanical Systems
and Signal Processing, vol. 72-73, pp. 266–285, 2016.
[7] T. T. Zhang, Y. F. Tan, X. D. Zhang, and J. H. Zhao, “A
novel hybrid technique for leak detection and location
in straight pipelines,” Journal of Loss Prevention in the
Process Industries, vol. 35, pp. 157–168, 2015.
[8] M. Zadkarami, M. Shahbazian, and K. Salahshoor,
“Pipeline leak diagnosis based on wavelet and statistical
features using dempster–shafer classifier fusion tech-
nique,” Process Safety and Environmental Protection,
vol. 105, pp. 156–163, 2017.
[9] J. Z. Gong, G. M. Png, J. W. Arkwright, A. W. Papa-
georgiou, P. R. Cook, M. F. Lambert, A. R. Simpson, and
A. C. Zecchin, “In-pipe fibre optic pressure sensor array
for hydraulic transient measurement with application to
leak detection,” Measurement, vol. 126, pp. 309–317,
2018.
[10] A. Barrias, J. R. Casas, and S. Villalba, “A review
of distributed optical fiber sensors for civil engineering
applications,” Sensors, vol. 16, p. 748, 2016.
[11] D. Inaudi and B. Glisic, “Long-range pipeline monitoring
by distributed fiber optic sensing,” Journal of Pressure
Vessel Technology, vol. 132, p. 011701, 2010.
[12] L. Ren, T. Jiang, Z. G. Jia, D. S. Lia, C. L. Yuan, and
H. N. Li, “Pipeline corrosion and leakage monitoring
based on the distributed optical fiber sensing technology,”
Measurement, vol. 122, pp. 57–65, 2018.
[13] W. H. Png, H. S. Lin, C. H. Pua, and F. A. Rahman,
“Pipeline monitoring and leak detection using loop inte-
Authorized licensed use limited to: University of Exeter. Downloaded on June 25,2020 at 11:01:21 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
grated mach zehnder interferometer optical fiber sensor,”
Optical Fiber Technology, vol. 46, pp. 221–225, 2018.
[14] P. S. Murvay and I. Silea, “A survey on gas leak detection
and localization techniques,” Journal of Loss Prevention
in the Process Industries, vol. 25, no. 15, pp. 966–973,
2012.
[15] C. Sandberg, J. Holmes, K. Mccoy, and H. Koppitsch,
“The application of a continuous leak detection system to
pipelines and associated equipment,” IEEE Transactions
on Industry Applications, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 906–909,
1989.
[16] W. G. Lin, L. L. Jiang, and H. Y. Wu, “Study of
non-intrusive gas pipeline leak detection with acoustic
sensor,” IFAC Proceedings Volumes, vol. 46, no. 20, pp.
27–32, 2013.
[17] T. S. Xu, S. L. Chen, S. X. Guo, X. J. Huang, J. Li, and
Z. M. Zeng, “A small leakage detection approach for oil
pipeline using an inner spherical ball,” Process Safety and
Environmental Protection, vol. 124, pp. 279–289, 2019.
[18] T. AL-Kadi, Z. AL-Tuwaijri, and A. AL-Omran, “Wire-
less sensor networks for leakage detection in under-
ground pipelines : A survey paper,” Procedia Computer
Science, vol. 21, pp. 491–498, 2013.
[19] M. Y. Aalsalem, W. Z. Khan, W. Gharibi, M. K. Khan,
and Q. Arshad, “Wireless sensor networks in oil and gas
industry : Recent advances , taxonomy , requirements ,
and open challenges,” Journal of Network and Computer
Applications, vol. 113, pp. 87–97, 2018.
[20] Y. Gao, M. J. Brennan, Y. Y. Liu, F. C. L. Almeida, and
P. F. Josep, “Improving the shape of the cross-correlation
function for leak detection in a plastic water distribution
pipe using acoustic signals,” Applied Acoustics, vol. 127,
pp. 24–33, 2017.
[21] Y. Zhang, S. L. Chen, J. Li, and S. J. Jin, “Leak detection
monitoring system of long distance oil pipeline based on
dynamic pressure transmitter,” Measurement, vol. 49, pp.
382–389, 2014.