Pipeline Leak Detection System for a Smart City: Leveraging Acoustic Emission Sensing and Sequential Deep Learning

Highlights What are the main findings? Acoustic emission signaling technology, when combined with time-series sequential deep learning algorithms, can effectively detect pipeline leaks of various sizes, regardless of the substance being transported inside the pipeline. The proposed time-series sequential deep learning model with Bi-LSTM achieved high classification accuracies for pipeline leak detection and size identification. What are the implications of the main findings? This approach can be integrated into smart city infrastructure for monitoring and maintaining extensive pipeline networks. By promptly and accurately identifying leaks, operators can prevent severe damage, reduce downtime, and minimize environmental and economic impacts.Highlights What are the main findings? Acoustic emission signaling technology, when combined with time-series sequential deep learning algorithms, can effectively detect pipeline leaks of various sizes, regardless of the substance being transported inside the pipeline. The proposed time-series sequential deep learning model with Bi-LSTM achieved high classification accuracies for pipeline leak detection and size identification. What are the implications of the main findings? This approach can be integrated into smart city infrastructure for monitoring and maintaining extensive pipeline networks. By promptly and accurately identifying leaks, operators can prevent severe damage, reduce downtime, and minimize environmental and economic impacts.Abstract This study explores a novel approach utilizing acoustic emission (AE) signaling technology for pipeline leakage detection and analysis. Pipeline leaks are a significant concern in the liquids and gases industries, prompting the development of innovative detection methods. Unlike conventional methods, which often require contact and visual inspection with the pipeline surface, the proposed time-series-based deep learning approach offers real-time detection with higher safety and efficiency. In this study, we propose an automatic detection system of pipeline leakage for efficient transportation of liquid (water) and gas across the city, considering the smart city approach. We propose an AE-based framework combined with time-series deep learning algorithms to detect pipeline leaks through time-series features. The time-series AE signal detection module is designed to capture subtle changes in the AE signal state caused by leaks. Sequential deep learning models, including long short-term memory (LSTM), bi-directional LSTM (Bi-LSTM), and gated recurrent units (GRUs), are used to classify the AE response into normal and leakage detection from minor seepage, moderate leakage, and major ruptures in the pipeline. Three AE sensors are installed at different configurations on a pipeline, and data are acquired at 1 MHz sample/sec, which is decimated to 4K sample/second for efficiently utilizing the memory constraints of a remote system. The performance of these models is evaluated using metrics, namely accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and convergence, demonstrating classification accuracies of up to 99.78%. An accuracy comparison shows that BiLSTM performed better mostly with all hyperparameter settings. This research contributes to the advancement of pipeline leakage detection technology, offering improved accuracy and reliability in identifying and addressing pipeline integrity issues.