15 Years of Practical Experience with Fibre Optical Pipeline Leakage Detection

Experience has shown that each pipeline system as well as the transported medium brings its own special requirements to the design and installation of fibre optical leakage detection systems.
The basic principles of the measuring method was developed at the University of Southampton (UK) and optimised for the usage for geotechnical and geophysical applications by GESO.
The principal requirements for leakage detection in pipeline-systems are to identify and locate leakages independent of the leakage type (Creeping leakages In the case of a leakage a local temperature anomaly occurs at the location of the leakage. In an overview the different types and characteristics of these temperature anomalies will be explained and the different detection methods by use of fibre optical sensors will be shown.
Examples for leakage detection at different pipeline types are high-pressure-gas and liquefied gas-, brine-, chemical product (for example Phenol)-, crude and fat oil as well as wet-oil pipelines.
As a conclusion remarks will include a forecast on the further development of fibre optical measurement techniques (for example the detection of acoustic signals) and their usage for leakage detection.