Effect of Leak Geometry on Water Characteristics Inside Pipes

Sajid Ali, Muhammad A. Hawwa and Uthman Baroudi
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Sajid Ali: Mechanical and Energy Engineering Department, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad A. Hawwa: Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
Uthman Baroudi: Computer Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: Water leaks from pipelines have large economic and ecological impacts. Minimizing water loss from supply pipelines has favorable effects on the environment as well as on energy consumption. This paper aims to understand the effect of the geometry of a leaking crack in a pipe wall by examining fluid flow characteristics, namely pressure and velocity distributions, inside the pipe. Practical observations show that the cause of wall rupture influences the geometry of cracks formed in a pipe wall, impacting aspects such as excessive pressure, corrosion. Knowledge of fluid flow characteristics could help in detecting and identifying leak characteristics at an early stage and assist in improving the energy and resource efficiency of water supply services. An experimental setup is developed to detect water leakage in a pipe when the leak is at an early stage and is difficult to detect by visual inspection. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model is developed using the COMSOL software. A comprehensive analysis of the effect of leak geometry on pressure and velocity distributions along the pipe is carried out while considering factors such as different pipe sizes, leak geometries, and steady-state flow conditions. It is observed that both velocity and pressure magnitudes rapidly fluctuate in the vicinity of leaks. Leaking cracks with slot, circle, and square shapes are found to generate distinguishing pressure and velocity distributions along the pipe. Thus, the geometry of the leaking crack and potentially its root cause(s) could be predicted by measuring velocity and pressure distributions.

Keywords: leak detection; water pipeline; numerical analysis; crack geometry; acoustic sensing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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